Chiasmus
by ScatterSunshine50
Summary: A collection of one-shots spanning the years of Hiccup's life, dealing with life, love, and everything in between.
1. Birth

AN: 2/26/12: Vague explanation for what the heck happened to this story at chapter 9.

Let me explain what a chiasmus is before I start. I designed this story to be a collection of one-shots that are all random in personality and flavor, but unified in structure. A chiasmus is a parallelism where you start by saying something and end by saying the exact same thing. So basically, this story begins at "Birth"(literally, that is the chapter title), climaxes at "Death," and ends back at "Birth" again, constantly paralleling every chapter throughout the story. So the first chapter will be very similar to the last chapter, the second chapter to the second-to-last chapter, and so on. But to make it feel more like a collection of random one-shots rather than repeating subject matter, I'll change some characters or situations around so you're not reading the same chapter over again. So even though this chapter is about _Hiccup's_ birth, the last chapter will very likely not be centered around Hiccup, but it will still be about birth. You'll get it, I promise. There's 19 chapters total; don't worry about it until chapter 10.

Obviously it's preferable to read them in order, but each chapter does correspond to a theme, so if you want to, you could chapter-hop to whatever theme most suits your fancy. All these one-shots are designed to be able to stand on their own as separate pieces, and they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. So regardless of how you read them, enjoy, and please leave a comment if you can! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or any of its characters.

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><p>Chiasmus<p>

Chapter 1: Birth

He was so _small. _Stoick blinked hard as he peered down into the wooden crib, watching as his newborn son looked intently at his surroundings, the dark green eyes he had inherited from his mother never resting, always curious about the world around him.

Stoick knew how babies were made, that they tended to cry and poop a lot, and that every couple had them eventually at some point in their life. He would openly admit to anyone that asked that he didn't, by any means, consider this a worthy qualification to become a father, but it was all he had.

He knew he didn't really have a clue what he was doing here; but he did know he shouldn't be completely dumbstruck with surprise everytime he looked down into the crib, watching as the tiny little thing wriggled aorund, his pink, soft hands blindly waving out in front of him.

"Can't stop staring, he's so cute,"his wife chimed happily as she came up beside him, reaching in and scooping up the baby in her arms. Stoick watched her for a moment, noting with slight jealousy how easy she made it all look. From the moment Stoick first held his son, he knew parenting was not his specialty. Every time he held the boy, he would either cry because he was holding him wrong, pull his beard, or cry for his mother because his beard was too uncomfortably scratchy. Yet somehow he molded into his mother's arms as if he was hand-crafted espeically for her to hold, and the crying stopped, and he was the happiest baby in the world. Why couldn't Stoick be that to him?

"Aw, sweety, you threw up a little,"she crooned, gently wiping his mouth with a readied cloth hanging at the edge of the crib, "Did Daddy not tap long enough?" Stoick flushed, but she just offered a forgiving smile and shifted his weight to her other arm.

"Has he held anything down?"he asked, shaking his head with a sigh.

"Daddy's right, sweetheart. You're not going to be a very big Viking if you don't hold your food in,"she said to the baby in a high-pitched voice, kissing his nose. Stoick held his breath, looking uncomfortable.

"...Really?"he asked slowly, looking anxiously at the boy, as if he was waiting to see him shrink right before his eyes.

"No dear, that's just something you tell children to make them eat their vegetables,"she chided, carefully balancing Hiccup on one arm and replacing the cloth with the other.

"But...that is _normal_, right?"he asked slowly.

"_Yes_, Stoick,"she said with a sigh of exasperation. Nearly everything Hiccup did lately was followed by the question, "Is that normal?" At first she had teased him about it, but she heard it so often now that all she could do was roll her eyes and sometimes give him a overly exaggerated sarcastic answer, just to show him how ridiculous he sounded when the question was uttered.

"I'm sorry, I know you're sick of hearin' me ask. It's just...I've been thinkin'. What if...what if he wasn't...normal?" He could already tell by the look on his wife's face that he had upset her.

"What do you mean?"she said slowly, "Of course he's normal." Stoick sighed, wishing he hadn't said anything. It needed to be said, though. If he didn't bring this up now, he didn't know when or how he would get the nerve to bring it up again. He hesitated, not knowing exactly how to even begin.

"Y'know how I keep asking if he's as big as he's supposed to be, or if it's normal that he's so small?"he started at last, speaking slowly.

"Uh-huh..."

"Well, I think part of the reason I keep askin' is because...I'm still surprised. Whenever I pictured me being a father, I pictured me with a boy, not a...baby. It sounds crazy, but I don't think I ever realistically anticipated the baby part at all. It's like I was always expectin' a full-fledged Viking to pop out, ready for battle. Of course I love him, but...he just isn't what I was expecting, that's all. And then I start to wonder, if he came as such of a surprise, what if the moment comes for him to be everything I want him to be, and I'm just as surprised as I am now?" His wife stared at him, quiet for a long time.

"You can't guarantee that he'll be everything you want him to be, Stoick,"she finally said quietly, "He can only be himself."

"I know, but...,"he stopped. There was no but. "Haven't you ever wondered what would happen if he didn't meet your expectations?"

"Expectations?"she repeated, her voice carrying a slight edge to it now, "What is it you were expecting? A sign from the gods that our son is going to be the fiercest warrior Berk's ever seen? It doesn't work that way. He's going to start from the very beginning, just like everyone does."

"I know that, that's not what I meant. I mean when he's older - when he's old enough to be accountable for his own success and failures. Our parents always told us they'd love us no matter what happened. Aren't you scared for him? We can say that all we want, but aren't you scared you might not be able to actually do it?" If his confession seemed uncharacteristic of Stoick, Val didn't say anything. She was used to Stoick letting his barriers down in front of her.

"Of course I'm scared, but I'm more scared of threatening our child to be someone he's not. I don't want to have any expectations,"she said seriously, "All we can expect is that he try his best and that he's as happy as we can let him be."

"But I have to have some expectations. I'm chief."

"And I'm the chief's wife,"she said seriously, "That's something I chose. Hiccup didn't choose this, Stoick. He can't be you. He'll be whoever he wants to be, and you're going to have to accept that." He faltered, not knowing what to say. His gaze lowered until he was staring at the baby in Val's arms, not cute and sweet like everybody told him babies were, but fat, wrinkly, and holding a unnervingly blank, vacant stare, like he wasn't quite there, still aimlessly wandering around in the furthest dregs of consciousness of wherever-babies-come-from. He was not what Stoick was prepared for. He was a complete stranger.

"What if I can't?"he finally asked, looking back up at his wife. She propped Hiccup up on her arm, carefully balancing him.

"Then we'll learn how. We've got some time before we have to be scared for him. And when it happens, we'll figure out how to handle it then. All three of us. Together,"she said, handing the baby to a baffled Stoick, who took the baby as gingerly as he could but still couldn't seem to hold him right. Hiccup began to cry, clearly uncomfortable. Valhalarma reached out to readjust him, showing Stoick how to do it so that he didn't hold him against his uncomfortably rough armor, and instead simply let him lie in his massive disk-sized hands, the boy still frighteningly small when compared to Stoick's immense frame.

"You hold him like you're afraid he's going to suddenly transform into a dragon, Stoick. Stop worrying. He's fine." Stoick stared blankly at the child, looking into Hiccup's green, wandering eyes, ever curious, never focusing on Stoick and what he wanted him to focus on.

If only the baby would stop shifting his eyes away from Stoick, away from the person he wanted the boy to look up to, maybe he could believe her.

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><p>AN: I'm stealing most of this outside-movie information from what I found on Wikipedia about the books. Also, I'm not <em>completely<em> open to suggestions - just because I had to make this story very specific to make the idea of a chiasmus work - but if you want to see something in a particular one-shot down the road, I will definitely take it into consideration.


	2. Grief

Chiasmus

Chapter 2: "Grief"

When Valhalarama passed that winter, Stoick's world utterly stopped. Time became trivial; life painstakingly unravelled as struggled to accept that his wife, love, and best friend was suddenly gone. And as Stoick sank deeper and deeper into a stupor of disbelief-shrouded grief, the world kept moving without him.

The villiage didn't really blame him. Granted, it was hard without their chief, but dragon raids were significantly less frequent in the winter time when the icy winds and frequent hailing made even the strongest of dragons think twice before setting to the skies. Winter was the time when most people focused on just making it through. It was the season the villiagers ditifully pulled from each other's resources, making sure everyone had enough to make it through. Especially now, with Hiccup.

Nobody had ever seen Stoick's young boy so well-behaved. He stayed locked up in the house with Stoick for the good part of the first week after the funeral, too upset to cause trouble. Villagers would bring by food for them both, usually able to coax Hiccup out of his room for a comforting hug or ruffling of his hair, but knew better than to try and draw out Stoick. Nobody could say for sure when even Hiccup had last seen his father emerge from his room.

Nobody knew exactly when Hiccup began slipping out of the house by himself, but suddenly he would appear, as if as a ghost, drifting in and out of sight. For days he would wander aimlessly around the village, sometimes noticed, sometimes going through an entire day completely alone. People invited him inside or took him home whenever he was found; otherwise, he would either completely isolate himself or find a way to slip away unnoticed. People went out of their way to offer him food when they did see him - knowing they probably wouldn't know when he would pop up again. The boy seemed intent on being alone, sorting through his grief and confusion in his own way, and for the most part, the villagers accepted this and let him be.

Gobber stepped in when he could, especially when the first signs of sickness began to creep up. He was the only one willing to go out and actively search for the boy, bringing him back to the forge when he could find him, and waiting for others to do so if they did first. The forge was no place for a four-year old, but Gobber kept the boy somewhat entertained, letting him "inspect" the weapons to see if they needed to be sharpened or simply letting him warm himself by the furnace. He would tell him stories of his more adventurous dragon-fighting battles to keep the boy's mind off of his lost mother and keep him entertained enough to stay put. But Gobber knew, if he turned around to check on the boy, he would find him sitting with unfocused eyes, stubborn tears welling up in his eyes that refused to fall in Gobber's presence, and the blanket he always carried around pressed hard against his mouth to drown out the faint, whispered word, "Mommy."

As long as the chief's house remained as eerily silent as it was, Hiccup was a constant worry on the back of everyone's minds. Their chief had become silent, the winter dragged on, and everyday someone would find a small auburn-haired boy somewhere crying quietly to himself, his thin, frail body racking with coughs and his cheeks painted pink with fever. Hiccup was failing, and far too much time had gone by without a disaster of some sort occurring. He was a time bomb just waiting to go off, and some were beginning to talk of marching up to the chief's house and demanding that he leash his son before the accident-prone boy could seriously hurt himself.

They were approaching their third chief-less week when the gods finally decided Hiccup had gone quite long enough without an incident.

Nobody had noticed Hiccup sitting by himself on the docks, his feet hanging over the edge of the water, his eyes glazed and unfocused, possibly searching for the visage of his mother in the dark, glassy surface. In fact, if Spitelout hadn't been standing nearby, nobody would have noticed when Hiccup had started to stand, slipped on the ice, and fallen into the icy water.

That was when they decided enough was enough.

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><p>"STOICK!"<p>

Spitelout pounded on the door with his fist, casting a sideways glance at Gobber, who had a wet, shivering Hiccup wrapped tightly under his coat. The door opened slowly, and Stoick finally appeared, his eyes more uncaringly stagnant and lifeless than Gobber had ever seen him. Immediately the strange, alien look disappeared the moment he saw his son, only a mop of wet hair visible underneath the furs.

"Wha' happened?"he demanded, looking between the two. Spitelout opened his mouth to speak, but Gobber rolled his eyes, ignoring Stoick and shoving past him into the house.

"For the love of Thor, how 'bout we explain after we get him warm?"he asked, looking imploringly at Stoick as he set the boy down by the fire. Stoick quickly followed, unable to stop staring at his son - pale and shaking, his lips blue and his hair still dripping wet. Immediately he went to fetch a blanket as Gobber helped Hiccup out of his shirt.

"He fell in the ocean when no one was watchin' 'im,"Snotlout hurredly began to explain, "I pulled the lad out and brought him to Gobber, but he was cryin' so hard, we thought he wanted you." Stoick nodded distractedly as he wrapped Hiccup firmly in furs, worredly wiping the wet hair from the boy's eyes so he could look more closely at his face. Hiccup coughed loudly into the mess of blankets, quietly whimpering, his voice muffled by the blankets.

"I'll take it from here,"he said gruffly to his brother. Spitelout faltered, clearly thinking otherwise but not in a place to question authority, even if they were kin. Finally conceding that he wasn't going to be of any other help, he turned and left, leaving the three of them there to themselves.

"C-c-cold, D-Daddy,"Hiccup croaked, coughing again. Any answer Stoick was about to give him was lost in the sudden coughing fit that shook his body.

"He's sick?"Stoick asked quietly to Gobber.

"Yuh didn't know?"he asked, raising an eyebrow, "He started coughin' like that nearly a week ago." Stoick faltered, not knowing what to think or say. It was true he hadn't been himself lately, but surely he would have noticed if Hiccup had gotten sick in all this time.

"D-Dad. I-i-it's c-cold,"Hiccup stammered, immediately reclaiming Stoick's attention. Quickly, he dove for the boy and brought him close to him, intent on sharing his warmth.

"Stoick,"Gobber said quietly, dropping his voice to a whisper although they both knew Hiccup could hear them if he had the sense to listen, "I need to talk to yeh." Stoick drew in a breath, bracing himself, then slowly looked up at Gobber, wordlessly giving him permission to continue. Gobber sighed, scratching his head, not knowing exactly where to begin.

"Look, Stoick, nobody's blamin' yeh for takin' time off to deal with this, but Hiccup can't live like this much longer. Y'know the village would never let the boy starve, and I watch him when I can, but who knows what he's been doin' or where he goes the rest of the time? It's the middle o' winter, and he's wanderin' around who-knows-where. He ain't doin' alright, Stoick."

"I-I didn't...I thought he was stayin' in the house,"he said quietly, shaking his head.

"We all thought so too, until he started roamin' around the village by himself. If he get's hurt or lost, there's nothing' we can do. No one's around to watch him. If Spitelout hadn't been standin' there when he fell, Hiccup could have..." Gobber didn't finish the sentence, casting a wary glance in Hiccup's direction. Hiccup stirred slightly at the mention of his name in relation to the accident, but his head quickly fell back on Stoick's arm, too adamant about getting warm.

"The rest of the villiage may say otherwise, but I don't mind if you need more time. But please...for Hiccup's sake, Stoick, he needs to be watched. He needs to be taken care of." Stoick was quiet for a long time, letting the awful reality of the situation finally sink in. Gobber was right. He had let himself become too distant with what was important. His sick, hungry, still shivering son was living proof that life needed to move on, with or without Valhallarama.

"...How did I not know?"he finally asked quietly, his face sinking into the hand that wasn't supporting Hiccup's body.

"Well, yeh...have been a bit spacey lately."

"That's no excuse. He's my son. I should have...,"he trailed off, realizing there were no words to even begin to say what he should have done. What had he done? Why hadn't he checked on him? Why hadn't he made sure he was okay? How could he have only thought of himself?

"I'm just lettin' y'know, because, well...Ah, figured yuh were preoccupied." Stoick shook his head slowly, his face somber and his eyes weak. It truly was a testament of their friendship that Stoick would ever allow himself to let his guard down so much in front of Gobber.

"Thank yeh...,"he said softly, "I'm...sorry." Gobber shrugged nonchalantly, relieving him of any obligation to continue.

"Stoick, y'know he's goin' through the same thing you are. If yuh don't mind me sayin' so, I think it would do both of yuh some good just to talk about it. He needs that more than any food or medicine. And yeh need that more than whatever lockin' yourself up was supposed to do." Stoick looked up when he heard this, his face unreadable.

Gobber stood then, sighing tiredly. He gave Hiccup a light pat on the head, motioning for the door. Hiccup stirred just a little in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything.

"Eh, glad the lad's alright in any case. Guess I'd better get back to work." He opened his mouth to thank him again, but Gobber beat him to it.

"Yeh take care of him, alright? He's the closest thing yeh have to her." Stoick was so taken back by what he had said, he didn't have time to answer before Gobber let himself out, shutting the door and leaving Stoick and Hiccup alone together.

The house was unnervingly quiet when Gobber left. Stoick turned his head back toward Hiccup, deciding that he was warm enough to be moved. Carefully he placed him so he was resting on top of the heap of blankets, tossing aside the blankets that were damp. Immediately on being laid down, Hiccup flipped over, his arms tucked tight under him and his face buried in the furs.

Even Stoick's bad parenting instincts could tell that something was wrong. Hiccup was turned completely away from him, his arms tight against him, his legs brought up close to his body, and unusually quiet and unresponsive. When he turned his head from the suffocating cloth to breathe, Stoick's heart dropped. There were already tear streaks on his face.

"I'm not mad,"he said quickly, wrapping him back up. Hiccup turned his head back down so his father couldn't see him. Clearly this wasn't the underlying concern.

"Why don't you get some rest, son?"he suggested, placing a large hand on his small shoulder. Hiccup slowly shook his head, turning his head back to the fire.

"Not tired,"he responded quietly, his voice clearly tight with the struggle to fight tears. Stoick didn't know what to do. They sat in silence for a long time, and the only sounds that could be heard were the crackling fire and the sound of light drizzling rain on the roof.

"I want Mommy,"Hiccup whimpered suddenly. A long stretch of awkward silence passed in which Stoick did absolutely nothing. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what was appropriate to say to a four-year old. In desperation, he remembered what Gobber had told him, and let out the breath he was holding.

"...I do, too, Hiccup,"he finally said, his voice shaking with the vulnerability of finally saying those words out loud.

"Dad? Where did she go?"Hiccup asked. Again, Stoick hesitated, knowing he couldn't just run away from these questions like he had been for the last few weeks, but knowing just as well that it didn't make it any easier to answer them.

"...She's gone, Hiccup,"he answered honestly.

"But...where is she?"he asked, his voice trembling as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. Stoick stared at his son, crying softly because he already knew, deep down, what was really going on. He could escape from the pain of losing his mother by slipping away to look for her in the places he knew, the same way Stoick had escaped his pain by running away looking for her in his memories. But the fact remained: She wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere.

Stoick took in a deep breath, staring wonderingly at his son. It was only then that Stoick noticed how shaggy his hair looked, how disheveled his clothes were, how thin he had gotten. What had Stoick been doing to take care of him? Had he done anything to fill the void that his wife had left?

"I want Mom,"Hiccup repeated quietly, his voice softer, weaker.

"I know,"he repeated, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, offering the only form of comfort he could think to give.

"Em, are you...hungry?"he asked pathetically, knowing, before the words had even left his mouth, that anything he tried to cook would probably not even come close to the quality Hiccup was accustomed to. Unfortunately for him, Hiccup slowly nodded.

"What's your favorite food?"he asked, feeling pathetic for not knowing. Hiccup wiped his tears, coughing once before answering.

"Carrots." His answer struck Stoick as so ridiculous, he was thrown off guard for a moment.

"Uh...okay,"he said slowly, "I'll go find some carrots." Instead of answering, Hiccup buried his face in the blanket, his body beginning to tremble. Stoick stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or how to react. He knew he was crying. Before Val died, he would scold him when he cried too long or too loud. It wasn't the Viking way, he told him.

Stoick sighed. It may not be the Viking way to cry, but it was the human way to grieve.

"I'll go...I'll go get you your carrots,"he said awkwardly, turning and heading for the door. When he came back, he placed the plate by Hiccup's head. The boy looked like a skinny rag doll as he weakly raised his arm to pick up a carrot. The sight frightened Stoick and made him sick with self-hatred.

"What did you leave me with, Val?"he thought desperately to himself, "I don't know what to do with him. Is he just going to eat carrots for the rest of his life? Is he ever going to be able to know how much I love him? Because we both know how bad I am at showing I care."

"Daddy?"Hiccup asked, breaking Stoick from his thoughts, "Can you stay here with me?"

"...Of course, Hiccup,"he responded. Hiccup coughed, pulling the blanket tighter around him.

"Don't leave me,"he said quietly, his voice quivering, "Okay?" Stoick stood there quietly for a moment, wondering what he had done to make Hiccup sound so desperate. If Stoick truly loved him as much as he thought he did, Hiccup should know with certainty that he would never leave him.

Stoick sat back down on the ground, surprising Hiccup by gently pulling the small boy - blankets and all - into his arms. Hiccup froze, his father's embrace a strange, alien thing.

"I won't leave you, Hiccup,"Stoick promised quietly, and Hiccup was surprised to hear the weakness in his father's voice. His dad never cried. Never.

"Promise?"he asked quietly. Stoick held him tighter to him.

"I will not lose you,"he promised, "I'll take care of you. I promise. I won't let anyone take you from me." Hiccup listened to his father's words, so unnervingly sincere and directed that he wasn't sure how to react at first. But Hiccup wanted to believe him. He wanted to believe he wasn't going to be left behind by his father the same way his mother had suddenly left him.

"...Okay."

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><p>AN: The next chapter is titled "Outcast." I haven't started on it, so I'm open for suggestions.<p> 


	3. Outcast

AN: Sorry about the wait, I think I spent more time trying to shorten it than I did actually writing it. Clearly, I failed. But, on the plus side, I spent so much effort deleting descriptive rambles that it's all action now. So at least you'll be entertained :)

I stole the part about Hiccup and Fishlegs being best friends from the books. Because I'm creative like that. Hiccup is seven now, by the way.

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><p>Chapter 3: Outcast<p>

"Fishlegs, come on!"Hiccup shouted. The said boy looked up, his face flushed with the stress of the short hike they had made to get there. Hiccup was already at the top of the hill, waiting a little impatiently for his friend to catch up with him.

"I-I'm coming!"he panted, picking up the pace. As he got closer, he forced himself to ease his breathing, taking deep, steady breaths to make a point of not showing just how much strain that small hill had put on him. Hiccup, however, was much too absorbed to notice.

"There's our ship!"Hiccup said excitedly, pointing out towards the sea. Fishlegs found his bearings and follwed the direction Hiccup was pointing.

"I don't see anything,"he said, looking to Hiccup for an explanation.

"I know, but we're just pretending, remember?"he reminded him, then turning back to the seascape, suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no! The pirates are coming! Run, Fishlegs, RUN!"

"Eh...,"Fishlegs said, caught off-guard for a moment as Hiccup tore over the cap of the hill, then a little begrudgingly followed him, still unwilling to force himself to move so soon when he still hadn't quite caught his breath yet. He made it over the top panting and looked down, searching the folliage for a sign of Hiccup.

"Pst! Fishlegs! Quick! Down here!"a voice whispered to him somewhere off to his left. He turned and spotted Hiccup crouching in a hole, motioning for Fishlegs to follow him. Fishlegs approached the hole tentatively, getting down on his hands and knees and crawling through the leaves to reach Hiccup.

"What are you doing?"he whispered to him, not really knowing why he was whispering but somehow knowing it was important to whisper.

"Hiding from the pirates!"Hiccup answered quite seriously, "Quick, get in the cave!" Fishlegs glanced around him, not moving.

"This isn't a cave, it's a foxhole,"he said, looking skeptical.

"_Pretend_ it's a cave, Fishlegs!"Hiccup insisted, motioning for him to hurry. Fishlegs complied, moving as far in as he could without his head hitting the ceiling.

"So what do pirates do, anyway?"Fishlegs whispered when he finally consented that he couldn't move in any further unless he wanted a hair full of dirt like his friend.

"They steal treasure!"Hiccup replied excitedly. Gobber had told him everything about pirates. Pirates, and gnomes, and trolls, and Romans, and everything else his father still insisted didn't exist.

"Do we have any treasure?"Fishlegs asked. Hiccup's face fell with the realization that they didn't He looked around his "cave," searching for an adequate temporary substitute. His gaze fell on a rather knotted stick, and on impulse he picked it up.

"Pretend this is our treasure!"he said, proudly holding up the stick. Fishlegs stared at it unsurely. Hiccup squeezed past him, scampering out of the hole. Fishlegs followed, eager to be free from his claustrophobia and the tight, condensed space that made it hard to breathe.

"Pretend I'm a pirate and I'm stealing your treasure from you!"Hiccup suddenly said, not even bothering to give Fishlegs a head start before taking off, waving the stick gleefully in the air.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" Hiccup just laughed, rocketing through the woods as fast as a seven-year old's legs could possibly carry him. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Fishlegs was at least making an effort to catch him, when suddenly he was thrown upward, an invisible force sweeping him off his feet and sending him flying up into the trees. He screamed in fright as a thick corded net enclosed around him, cacooning him inside as he hung six feet from the ground, suspended in what he could only suspect was a trap used to hunt animals. He tried to twist himself around so that he could somewhat balance himself on his knees, but the rope didn't seem to have very much stretch to it, and he found it hard to move at all.

"Fishlegs! Help!"he cried out in desperation. Before Fishlegs could catch up to where he was, however, he heard another voice that clearly did not belong to his friend's.

"No way. Is that...?"the unmistakable voice of his own cousin said somewhere to his right. He tried to turn his head, but Snotlout stood somewhere behind him, outside his peripheral vision. He groaned loudly.

"Hey, it's Hiccup!"came the laughing jeer of who could have only been Tuffnut Thorston. Hiccup felt a sick feeling drop into the pit of his stomach when he heard the second voice. He didn't need to be hanging in a tree to know they weren't here to help him get down.

By that time, Fishlegs had caught up to him, looking torn between the two boys who had suddenly appeared and Hiccup, hanging in a tree.

"Can you get any stupider, chicken-legs?"Snotlout laughed, nudging Tuffnut for support, "How did you not see that? You're so pathetic. I bet you didn't even know you were in the hunting zone." Hiccup scowled. Yes, he knew he was in the hunting zone. And yes, his father had told him, on more than one occasion, that if he was going to play in the woods, to watch out for animal traps. That didn't mean Hiccup had really listened.

"Maybe if we tell them we caught something, they'll eat him,"Tuffnut snickered to Snotloud, loud enough for the two boys to hear.

"Go away,"Hiccup said quietly. Why did they just happen to be in the woods, too? Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"Are you kidding? We could do this all day."

"Um, guys, we might get in trouble if we stay here, so...,"Fishlegs finally said, casting a sheepish glance at the other two boys, who didn't seem to take a hint.

"No one's going to find us out here, fish breath,"Tuffnut said, rolling his eyes. Fishlegs shrunk back at the insult, not knowing what to do.

"Besides, why are you even hanging out with him anyway? Aren't you a little old for him?"Snotlout sneered. Fishlegs hesitated, not quite knowing how to address such an accusation.

"W-we're only a year apart...,"he finally said.

"Yeah, well so am I,"Snotlout said, as if this justified his superiority. Fishlegs faltered, not knowing how to argue this. Of the children in his age group, he was the oldest, Snotlout following closeby, with Astrid and the twins following within less than a year(they still debated about this), leaving Hiccup as the last and youngest of the group. He had never thought much of it until Snotlout pointed it out, staring him down, puffing out his chest as if daring him to question his rationale.

"Shut up, Snotlout!"Hiccup shouted, using a phrase his father would have yelled at him for saying, although it made him feel bigger, knowing it was a "big kid" thing to say.

"You're one to talk, bone-bag, you're up in a tree!"Snotlout shouted back, earning an unconcealed snicker from Tuffnut.

"My dad says you're a dumb brute!"Hiccup blurted out. An insult from the chief of the tribe. Now that would get him. Now, Hiccup hadn't actually heard his father say this to him, but he definitely heard him mumbling the word "brute," under his breath at some point, and he thought it was a big word that Snotlout wouldn't know, so he was eager to finally get to use it.

Unfortunately, his cousin didn't so much as flinch.

"Oh yeah? My dad says you're living proof to why he would have been a better chief than your dad. He said if your dad was going to be any good for Berk, he would raise a son who was actually useful and not wrecking things all the time." Hiccup's determined stubbornness faltered for just a moment, but quickly he regained his composure, hoping Snotlout hadn't seen. This was no time to look weak.

"You're lucky I'm not down there, or I'd...I'd..."

"What? Knock over the Gothi?"Tuffnut offered, snickering at the memory of Hiccup, not paying attention as usual, and running so hard into the old woman that she looked like she could have shattered on impact.

"Run into a catapault in the middle of a raid and blast a hole through someone's roof?"Snotlout echoed, nudging his friend in the ribs.

"Infect the whole island with poison oak?"

"Seriously, Fishlegs, why_ do_ you hang out with him?"Tuffnut asked, abruptly turning his attention back to the nervous boy.

"I, uh...Um, well...maybe we can all play...together?"Fishlegs tried. There was a beat of silence, immediately followed by loud laughter. In the midst of their laughter, Fishlegs was trying to find a way to get Hiccup down. He followed the other end of the rope to a bulging gnob on a nearby tree. He reached up to grab the rope, but didn't anticipate Hiccup's entire weight would be pulling away from the other side, and dropped the line in surprise. Hiccup came crashing painfully down on the ground to another peal of howling laughter.

"Looks like useless is contagious,"Snotlout jeered, high-fiving his friend, "Hey cuz, you're stupid is rubbing off on your friend here."

"Just...just go away, guys!"Hiccup retaliated, cradling the arm he had landed on. He tried to untangle himself from the net, only managing to get his feet caught and trip once more. Fishlegs helped him up this time, looking uneasy.

"Aw, did baby cuz hurt his arm?"Snotlout taunted in a mocking voice.

"Quit calling me that - I'm only a year younger than you,"Hiccup snapped.

"Year and a half,"he corrected with a sneer.

"So what? That doesn't matter!"

"Yes it does, it means I'm bigger and smarter than you, and it means I've already been on a hunting expedition!"he said proudly. Hiccup pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to do something that would really get in trouble. His father had promised he could go when he was older and he had behaved consistently for at least a month. When that would ever actually happen, Hiccup couldn't say, but when it did, Snotlout wouldn't be able to use that excuse ever again.

"Hiccup...maybe we should just go,"Fishlegs suggested quietly before Hiccup could think of something to retaliate with. Hiccup stood, fuming at his cousin, then finally turned around and started walking back. He tried to ignore Snoutlout and Tuffnut's triumphant snickers, but he couldn't help feeling angry. Why did Snotlout have to push him around all the time? And why did he have to bring Tuffnut into it?

"They're so mean,"Hiccup mumbled quietly when they were out of earshot. Fishlegs glanced sideways at him.

"Yeah,"he agreed quietly, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him.

"A year and a half isn't that big of a deal,"he added, more to himself than to Fishlegs, "I'll be eight...soon." Fishlegs didn't say anything to this, though the more Hiccup tried to defend himself, the bigger of a deal it sounded.

"My dad says he's only mean because we're cousins,"Hiccup continued, trying to muster up every scrap of dignity he could, "He didn't have to be mean to you." He waited for his friend to shrug and say "it's okay," but Fishlegs remained silent. To be honest, it wasn't okay. Fishlegs liked Hiccup, and he liked having him as a friend, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't bothered that he got picked on constantly for being friends with him. Hiccup blamed it mostly on Snotlout, but it wasn't just him. Snotlout was friends with Tuffnut, so he hated Hiccup; Tuffnut was always with his sister, so she hated Hiccup; and Ruffnut was usually playing with Astrid, so she hated Hiccup. Even when they weren't playing together, he felt his peer's disapproval, and it seemed to follow him around everywhere he went. He hated it. He hated that he had to hang out with Hiccup by force because he was expected to. He hated that he couldn't be friends with anybody else. He hated that he was "Hiccup's friend," and he had been branded that label. But most of all, he hated that he was never able to do anything to take it off.

"Maybe we can go look for real treasure now,"Hiccup suggested as a way of shaking off what had just happened. He looked imploringly at his friend, but Fishlegs just shrugged.

"I'm kind of tired. Maybe we should just go home."

"Oh...Okay,"he said quietly. He checked above him to see what time it was. The sun was just beginning his descent; he was allowed to go home if he wanted to. They walked on in silence for a while, the village slowly coming into view.

"You know that waterfall behind Bear's Cove? That looks like a really cool hiding place. Maybe tomorrow we could look for pirate treasure there!"Hiccup said suddenly, looking back at his friend. He was trying to get Fishlegs to look at him, to show that he wasn't embarrassed of him, that he didn't think he was as useless as Snotlout had said he was. He wanted him to be happy that they were friends, regardless of the things they had said. All he saw, though, was uneasiness.

"I don't really like pirates, to be honest,"he mumbled.

"Oh...I thought you liked playing pirates,"he said slowly.

"No, not really. Just you." Hiccup turned to look at his friend in confusion, who still refused to divert his gaze from the ground. He was there with Hiccup when Gobber had told them that story, though. He had seemed so interested...they had spent the whole night playing pirates together. Hiccup was sure Fishlegs was having fun. It didn't make sense.

"Are you okay?"he asked, concerned now.

"Hm-hmm,"Fishlegs hummed, his lips closed tight.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"he asked, looking more hopeful than he probably should need to.

"I guess, sure,"he answered with a shrug. Hiccup cast one last wondering glance at his friend before following the path back to his own house. He didn't know why, but there was something in Fishlegs' emotionless, uncaring expression that left a sick feeling in his stomach.

Days passed, and Hiccup was growing more and more uneasy about his friend's aloofness. Every day, Fishlegs felt like he was further and further away from him - never wanting to play, never wanting to talk, and never wanting to go outside. By the end of the week, Hiccup was looking desperately for some way to make his friend excited about something they could share together. By the next morning, he had found it.

Or, at least, he thought he had.

* * *

><p>Stoick paced the floor, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. He needed to think. The last dragon raid had cost them two houses and four sheep. If he could only find think of who to pull to protect the flock, he could concentrate on getting the houses rebuilt before the next dragon ra"-<p>

CRASH

"Hiccup!"Stoick growled, tearing through the house to find the boy on the floor, a heap of broken dishes around him.

"What happened?"he shouted, leering at the boy.

"They, uh...they were too heavy,"he said sheepishly, cowering under his father's angry look.

"Where did you find these?"he asked, examining a broken piece. He looked past Hiccup's shoulder to see the family chest, it's lock broken and its lid wide open. He faltered, realizing what it was that he was holding. These had been Valhallarama's. He had put them away sometime after her death - they were her's, after all, along with anything else associated with her.

"How did you get this open?"he asked, picking the boy off the ground and placing him where there weren't broken shards strewn on the floor.

"I found the key,"he said, looking guiltier and guiltier the more he realized that his brilliant plan had failed.

"You couldn't have found the key, I hid it."

"I found it."

"Hiccup, you"-he stopped himself, trying to not lose his temper, "You're not to go looking for things again without my permission, is that clear?"

"But Dad, look! There's all kinds of neat stuff in here,"Hiccup exclaimed, completely ignoring his father and instead leaning into the chest, "Some of this is mine."

"Don't touch that. And stop moving around - you'll step on the glass,"he snapped. He was losing his patience, but sure enough, there were items in the chest that looked terribly out of place. Stoick must have put them in there by mistake.

"Look, Dad! It's my slingshot and the boat I made,"he said, pulling out an assortment of items that he placed proudly at his feet. He began pulling experimentally at the slingshot, reeling it back, and though Stoick couldn't see if he had anything he to fling, he decided it was better to avoid the risk of something else breaking and quickly grabbed it from him.

"Hiccup, you put those things back right now or so help me, I will tie you to a real boat and watch you sail away." Stoick knew he had hurt the boy's feelings even before he had finished his sentence. Inside, he mentally cursed himself for doing it yet again. He always ended up being harsher on his son than he intended. Of course he would never do half the things he threatened to do, but the boy was just so difficult and disobedient sometimes. Even when he thought he had him under his tight control, he would suddenly break something, or fall into something, or -Odin forbid this ever happen again - want a closer look at a wild boar and then be chased all the way into the village.

"But Dad"- Hiccup started.

"No but's,"he interrupted, "You clean this up and give me back the key. Do you understand?" Hiccup stared at him imploringly, at a loss of what to say or do.

"...Yes,"he finally said quietly, his eyes downcasted.

"Good. Now go get the broom,"he snapped, and immediately Hiccup rushed off. He let out a tired sigh, looking up to the ceiling.

"Val, what am I going to do with him?"he whispered quietly to the ceiling. The ceiling, naturally, didn't answer him. The door, however, did, alerting him back to earth with a loud knock.

"What now?"he growled, crossing the room and whipping the door open, ready to unleash his fury on whoever dared bother him. He forced himself to calm down when he saw that it was only Gobber.

"I know, I'm coming,"he said before Gobber could speak, "I'm just...running late."

"Ya need help?"he asked carefully, mindful that Stoick's temper was already at its peak.

"No. I'm taking care of it,"he snapped.

"Look, I can take Hiccup over if ya want"-

"No,"he interrupted, "I'm taking care of it." Gobber kept quiet, deciding it best not to push him when he was this aggrivated.

"Hiccup! What's taking so long?" He looked back behind him, where Hiccup was struggling just to hold the broom upright without falling over. Stoick let out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"Just let me do it,"he grumbled, taking the broom and sweeping up the mess before Hiccup could find some other way to hurt himself. When Stoick had gotten the last broken shard in the trash, he looked tiredly at the boy, standing awkwardly watching his father, waiting for further chastisement.

Val would have known what to do with him, Stoick thought once more, contemplating the boy with his wild, curious eyes, unnaturally thin young body, fair and freckled skin that seemed was the only feature Stoick could see the boy had gotten from him, and naive looking but secretly mischievous expression on his face. He was a complete stranger to him.

"Go get ready,"he sighed, placing the broom propped up against the wall, not bothering to put it away.

"Can I bring my boat?"he asked.

"Wha - no. Just go get ready,"he said tiredly, massaging his temples.

"But"-

"I said GO GET READY!"Stoick shouted, making both Gobber and Hiccup jump. Gently Gobber gave him a little push, unnoticed by Stoick, and Hiccup took off to his room.

"You really can't lose your temper with him, y'know,"Gobber said quietly when Hiccup was gone, "He looks up to you."

"I don't know how much more of this I can take, Gobber. He destroys everything he touches. I can't keep sendin' him to play with Fishleg's everyday - they've already run into trouble with him, too. Nobody else will take him - says he's too much to handle. "

"Set him up with an apprenticeship,"he suggested nonchalantly, picking up the abandoned boat and turning it over in his hands, admiring the craftsmanship, "Aye, this is pretty good for a lad his age."

"And dump him on someone else's feet? Who could I possibly ask?" Stoick paused for a moment as he seriously considered this. Then slowly he turned his head back to Gobber's, his eyes wide with realization.

"You could take him." Gobber reeled, nearly dropping the toy.

"Are yuh tryin' to kill me?"

"Come on, didn't yuh always say he was good at buildin' things?"

"I'd hardly compare lethal weapons to toys, Stoick,"Gobber scoffed, "Besides, I thought you said you wanted him somewhere safe."

"He's safer in the forge than he is in his own room. I'm not worried about where he is, I'm worried about who's watchin' him."

"Is your helmet on too tight? He'll have the whole forge burned down before sundown."

"Not if you were watchin' him,"he insisted.

"Well that sounds productive,"he said, rolling his eyes, "I'm sure I'd get _loads _of work done." They both immediately fell silent when Hiccup reappeared at the top of the stairs, his face sullen and his composure submissive. He avoided eye contact with his father, even when he was standing next to him.

"Sorry about the plates, Dad,"Hiccup mumbled finally.

"Just don't do it again,"he grumbled. Hiccup was quiet for a moment, awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"Were they Mom's?"he finally asked. Stoick sighed, turning back to Hiccup and impatiently pushing him toward the door.

"Yes, Hiccup."

"Oh...What were they for?"

"They were part of her dowry."

"What's a dowry?"

"Why does it _matter_, Hiccup?"he asked, his voice rising again. Gobber glanced down at Hiccup, who hung his head in embarrassment for having asked. Stoick could only feel slightly guilty as he led Hiccup out the door, the awkward silence from both son and friend unbearably uncomfortable and practically suffocating. Stoick actually felt relieved to be rid of him when he dropped him off at Fishleg's house.

Hiccup knocked on the door and waited for Fishlegs to come out. It took him a while, but finally the boy emerged, equally as somber looking.

"Um...hi,"he said, avoiding eye contact. If Hiccup thought this was odd, he didn't show it.

"Hi, Fishlegs,"he greeted as usual, "Guess what? You know the treasure chest in my house? I found the key, and I opened it! I thought maybe that would be fun since it's a real treasure chest and not just pretend. But...my dad got mad at me because I accidentally broke some of it. It wasn't really treasure, it was just my mom's stuff. I wanted to bring some to show you, but he said no." Fishlegs looked down, shuffling his feet.

"Oh..." Hiccup scratched his head unsurely, mistaking his friend's silent for disappointment.

"Sorry,"he apologized, and he meant it. He had already let his dad down today; he didn't want to do the same to his friend. Fishlegs didn't respond for a long time. Finally he took in a deep breath and looked Hiccup in the eye.

"I don't think we should be friends anymore."

Silence. Neither boy said anything for a long time. Hiccup stared at Fishlegs, unsure if he heard him correctly.

"Wait...what?"he finally asked, the first to break the silence. Fishlegs held his breath, looking back down at the ground again.

"I don't want to be friends,"he repeated, his voice quieter the second time saying it. The silence that followed was even more unbearably painful this time, when the words were repeated in a way that told the boy that his friend had meant them this time. Nothing in the world could have prepared Hiccup for the feeling of absolute despair he felt now. He couldn't help the dizziness that had suddenly seized his every movement. He couldn't help his hands shaking with the gravity of what his best and only friend was saying.

"Why?"he finally asked, not even bothering to try and hide his tears. Fishlegs didn't answer for a long time, torn with himself.

"I just...don't want to,"he finally answered lamely, "That's all."

"But_ why_?" Hiccup wanted to scream, to grab his friend by the shoulders and shake the truth out of him. Anything to stop that indifferent stare, that careless shrug of the shoulders, as if he didn't care one way or another that he was practically ripping him apart by what he was saying. It was like Hiccup wasn't even worth the emotion.

"I just don't want to,"he finally said, looking at the ground. Hiccup waited and waited for him to say something more, but he never did.

"...I have to go,"Fishlegs finally mumbled. Hiccup watched blankly as Fishlegs turned and went back into his house without a second glance. He stood there when the door closed, for a moment forgetting how to breathe. He felt as if he had just eaten a heavy rock and literally felt it drop all the way to his stomach. His throat constricted, his lungs felt heavy and made it hard to breathe, and it took him a moment to realize that the reason the world had suddenly turned blurry was not because the world was ending as he initially thought it was, but because he was crying.

He didn't want to stay here. His first tear fell as he turned and began walking, the second followed as he broke off into a run, running as fast as he could out of the village, out of Berk. He didn't stop until he reached the edge of the woods, and then and only then did he allow the tears to freely fall.

He didn't understand. They had just been playing together yesterday. They had been friends just the day before and then suddenly they weren't. He hadn't even given him a clear reason. He didn't even know what he had done, or who to blame. All he knew was that he had had a friend and suddenly he had none. Sinking down to his knees, Hiccup let himself cry as loud and as long as he liked, away from the rest of the village with their disappointed stares of condemnation, away from his father and his exasperated anger with him. It seemed wherever he went, no matter what he did, he fell short to everyone.

Hiccup didn't move from his spot until late afternoon. He wiped his tears and looked up through the canopy of trees. He was going to get in trouble with his dad if he was found by himself. Hiccup wasn't allowed anywhere by himself. He debated finding him, but he knew he didn't want his father to know what had happened, especially after this morning. He would be disappointed in him. No, he couldn't know. He would never know.

He stood up, having not decided where to go yet but knowing he had to go somewhere. He trudged slowly back into the village, his eyes weak and his entire body caved inward, overcome with the grief he was still trying hard to hide.

"Hiccup?"a voice suddenly called. Hiccup quickly wiped his eyes and turned to see Gobber, watching him from the window of the forge.

"What're yuh doin' outside?"he asked, coming outside. Hiccup, afraid of Gobber hearing the weakness in his voice, didn't answer. Gobber, however, could immediately see that something was wrong.

"Y'alright?"he asked, immediately noticing that Hiccup had been crying. The boy nodded, simply because he was supposed to.

"Are yuh lookin' for yer dad?" Hiccup shook his head so vigorously, Gobber reasoned he was probably trying for the opposite.

"Do yuh want to sit in the forge for a while?"he asked. Hiccup hesitated, considering this, then slowly nodded. Gobber placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and led him inside, instructing him to sit on the bench in the corner. Gobber didn't ask him why he was upset or why he was trying to avoid his father. He simply let the boy draw up his knees and sit there as he turned his back to him and continued working as if nothing was wrong.

The forge was quiet for a very long time, the occasional clinking of metal and the crackling furnace the only distinguishable sounds that could be heard. Hiccup watched the window, lost in heavy thought. At some point in the day, he saw Fishlegs run past the forge, accompanied by the twins. He didn't see Hiccup, and probably wouldn't have thought to spare a glance in the window, but none the less the sight made a fresh round of tears pool in his eyes as he realized the reality of the situation. His friend was one of "them" now. Fishlegs hated him. If he didn't hate him, he wouldn't have said those things. There was literally no one now that didn't hate him. First his peers, then his father, and now Fishlegs.

"Yuh okay, lad?"Gobber finally asked. Hiccup hadn't realized that he had audibly sobbed, but quickly he tried to remedy the short slip-up by pressing his lips to his knees, hiding his face from Gobber. Finally, in a voice that clearly betrayed that he was more upset than he had been letting on, he managed to speak.

"Gobber?" This was all he seemed to be able to manage for the moment.

"Hmm?"

"Am I useless?"he asked quietly, seeing it was pointless to pretend he wasn't crying anymore and finally turning his head to look at him. Gobber turned slightly, sparing him a quick glance.

"Nay, lad, of course not. Who told yuh that?" Hiccup tried to wipe his nose, but another stream almost immediately took its place.

"Snotlout."

"Eh, he's your cousin. I wouldn't think too much of it,"he said, plunging the red-hot sword he had been making into the barrel of water next to him, letting a billow of steam hiss out.

"Everyone thinks it, though,"he said quietly, his voice nearly drowned out in the hissing steam. Gobber looked up in surprise. Carefully he laid the cooled sword down on the table to let it cool and turned back to the boy, giving him his full attention.

"Is this about what happened this mornin'?"he asked. Hiccup shook his head, his eyes suddenly misty again.

"Fishlegs said he doesn't want to be my friend anymore,"he finally confessed. Gobber stared at the boy, not knowing what to say for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but Hiccup beat him to it.

"Please don't tell my dad." Gobber closed it again, struck completely dumb by Hiccup's plea and all it implied. The boy stared imploringly at him, his eyes shining with tears and his whole body bent, as if the grief he was trying hard to bear quietly was literally trying to bend him until he broke. Gobber sighed heavily, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

"Look, Hiccup, I don't know about Fishlegs, but I'm sure whatever it is he's goin' through is just temporary. And if it makes yuh feel any bettuh, your dad is just as short-tempered with me. He loves yuh, and I want yuh to know that." Hiccup couldn't stop the tears from coming. Unable to respond to Gobber's statement, he leaned his head against his knees, trying with all his might to stop crying, to be strong, grounded, likable - everything he wasn't.

"I said I was sorry,"was all he managed to mumble before dissolving into tears again, though about whom he was talking about, he didn't even know.

"I know yeh did,"Gobber answered, sighing heavily, "I know..." Hiccup wrapped his arms around himself, embarrassed that Gobber was seeing him like this. For a moment all Gobber could hear were the muffled sounds of Hiccup's sobs, his back convulsing sporadically with every sharp intake of breath. Gobber continued to stare wordlessly at him for a moment, trying to rationalize with himself the thousand different reasons why he shouldn't do what he was about to do.

"Come on, lad, you're not useless. Here, how 'bout yeh give me a hand today? Yuh can help me with this sword here if it'll make yuh feel better,"he said, motioning for the boy to stand up. Hiccup looked up, unsure if he heard right.

"Huh?"he asked, sniffling and wiping his face with his sleeve.

"If yuh can promise to try and stop cryin', yuh can help me here in the forge until it's time to go home,"he suggested, already searching the room for potential accidents even as he said it. Hiccup stared at him, unsure how he felt about this. He had never been allowed to even touch anything in Gobber's shop. To be able to help was a rare occurrence he couldn't pass up, even in this mood.

"...I'm really allowed to help?"he finally asked, his voice still shaky but at least not breaking with sobs. He looked at Gobber with the hopefulness that told him he was taking these conditions very seriously.

"...Just for today,"he answered, a little hesitantly, already having second thoughts. For a moment, Gobber wasn't sure if he _would_ be able to stop crying in the state he was in. But Hiccup slowly wiped his face, putting his legs down and slowly pushed himself off the bench, his face red and tear-stained but determined. He walked slowly up to Gobber, still sniffling but stubbornly making a sincere effort to calm down. Gobber patted him lightly on the shoulder, wordlessly acknowledging his efforts.

"Here, I'll show you how to sharpen it,"he said, picking up the sword, and carefully letting the boy hold it, "Be _very_ careful." Hiccup nodded sullenly, his arms dropping under the weight but still managing to hold it as gingerly as he possibly could. He tried not to look too scared, and he tried not to cry, purposefully not sniffling and wiping his nose any chance he could get.

Gobber showed him the spinning wheel, letting him try it out under his close supervision. The boy carried out his tasks in a sullen depression, but Gobber could tell he was happy to be trusted with such important work, even if he wasn't in a state to show it. He was gentle with him, trying to be as patient as he could, even though Hiccup couldn't even lift half the things he gave him off the ground. Still, once he learned how to move around the forge, Gobber was sincerely impressed by how quickly he learned how everything operated. He caught Hiccup staring out the window often, probably looking for Fishlegs, but Gobber quickly found ways to distract him, giving him something else to do before the boy could start thinking about it too much.

And somehow, by the end of the day, Gobber found himself with a new apprentice.

* * *

><p>AN: There actually is a chest in their house. Look for it next time you watch the movie :) I wanted to include this while Hiccup is still young. At this age, Hiccup is young enough that by the time he's twice this age, he'll remember his circumstances without the exact details.<p>

Thank you so, so much for reviewing guys! You guys kept me smiling for the entire day, I was so overwhelmed by how much wonderful feedback I got. Your comments are so appreciated! Please share any thoughts, praises, flames, random impulses to say hi, good jokes you heard, or plots to destroy the world. I love them all :)


	4. Invisible

AN: Hiccup is...ten...ish? Somewhere between 9 and 11.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Invisible<p>

Stoick didn't know when exactly Hiccup started becoming so sarcastic.

He stared down at his son, who wouldn't - couldn't - look him in the eye.

"Let me get this straight,"he said slowly with an exasperated sigh, "You went to deliver an axe to Brov. He wasn't home. You asked where he was. His wife told you he was at the docks."

"More or less,"Hiccup sighed. He had had to tell this story over a dozen times now. Hopefully this time would be his last.

"So you went to the docks, and you found him working with another Viking on a boat."

"_Very_ preoccupied,"he said, knowing his father would forget that part.

"Alright. You called out his name, but he didn't hear you."

"His hearing's gotten pretty bad lately,"Hiccup added for his benefit.

"So you tried...waving the axe to get his attention?"

"Okay, maybe not one of my best ideas."

"And you lost balance, and"-

"Okay, I know it sounds really bad. But I _would_ have been able to catch myself if the post hadn't tripped me. See, it's more like I got tripped than I just let it go."

"You dropped the axe into the ocean, Hiccup."

"Those things are heavier than they look! And besides, it wasn't even my best fixing job."

"Of course it was heavier than it looked! It was made of the finest metal their family could afford!"

"Hey, now they have one less thing to worry about if a dragon sets their house on fire."

"It was a priceless family heirloom!"he snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose, "For once, can you get by one day without causing a mess for me to clean up?" Hiccup was quiet for a brief moment, looking down at the floor. Stoick thought he saw a brief flash of sadness cross over his face, but then he shrugged, looking back up.

"Well, you know me, I just can't break tradition,"he said with a shrug.

"For the love of Thor, Hiccup, get your act together. I'm sick of this. I have bigger problems to deal with than your daily screwups."

"Hey, look on the bright side, now Gobber can make him a better one." Stoick rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Go to your room. I need to go take care of this,"he said with a heavy sigh.

"Hey, better Brov than Freyre, right?"he asked with a weak smile.

"I'm not saying it a second time, Hiccup,"he said sternly. Hiccup stood there awkwardly for a moment, rocking on the balls of his feet in a moment of indecision.

"Okay... I'll just, um...yeah, I'll just go,"he said awkwardly, "Uh, do you want me to go and just...apologize myself?"

"No." The look on his face was enough for Hiccup to know he was dead serious. He wasn't going to argue. Brov was five times his size and had a temper that would make any ordinary Viking cower in fear. He wouldn't survive past a knock on the door.

"Um...okay. Do you need anything...while you're gone?"he asked hesitantly. The question sounded ridiculous given the circumstances, but Hiccup was desperate - desperate to fill the awkward silence, to make his father say something instead of just looking at him with that annoyed, exasperated look he seemed to constantly wear on his face whenever Hiccup tried to talk to him. Hiccup's efforts, however, were in vain. Stoick put on his helmet, turning his back to his son without answering him.

"Dad, I-I'm really sorry,"he blurted out. Stoick stopped, finally glancing behind him. Hiccup tried again.

"Is there anything I can do?"he asked, unusually straightforward and sincere. Stoick turned back to the door, pulling it open and letting a cold rush of icy wind blast through the house. Hiccup shivered against the cold, but he didn't move, waiting for his father to respond.

"Just stay in the house and out of my way,"he said, his voice nearly drowned out in the furror of the howling wind. The biting accusation in his voice was more jarring than the too-loud slam of the door. Hiccup stood there, staring at the door that was now still and motionless, feeling the emptiness of the room practically buzzing in his ears. He turned slowly on the spot, clenching and unclenching his hands as he looked around at the empty house, his head in a confusing, muddled daze, as if he had suddenly gotten lost and wasn't sure where he was or what he was doing. He felt the familiar ache of disappointment creeping in, and he needed to run - run away from it as fast as he could before it could catch up with him.

Hiccup wasn't usually accustomed to deliberately sneaking out, at least not until recently. But the silence of the house was simply too uncomfortable. He didn't want to be here, alone in this house that was simply too empty and too quiet too often.

Grabbing his coat, he pushed the door open, squeezing his eyes shut as a blast of cold wind nearly knocked him over. He shivered, quickly shutting the door behind him and pulling up his hood to protect his ears.

The week-long rainstorm that had ended just a few hours ago had left the paths muddy and impossible to walk in. Hiccup took as large of steps as he possibly could, earning a satisfyingly large "squish" sound every time he took a step. Squinting against the wind, he looked over to see who else was out. Even in the blistering cold weather, the village was alive with the sounds of Vikings working, stubborn as always to get something done even when their skin burned with cold. Hiccup took off toward the forest, eager to get under the shelter of the trees, where the wind's strength couldn't reach him.

The ground was relatively drier in the woods, the thick canopy of trees acting as a natural umbrella to the week's long rainfall. A soft white mist clung to the air, making it hard to see anything not directly in front of him. Hiccup wasn't worried about getting lost in the fog, though. He had wandered in this part of the woods alone countless times. He knew this path well.

He suddenly stopped when he began to hear the faint sounds of voices up ahead. Unable to see who it was, but confident they wouldn't be able to see him, either, he inched forward, straining to listen.

_Thud_

"Your throwing arm sucks,"a hoarse voice said somewhere to his right. He turned and quietly followed the sound of the voice until another one spoke.

"Better than yours, snot-troll." Hiccup stopped, recognizing Tuffnut's voice.

"It's freezing. Why are we out here?"someone else asked. Hiccup pressed himself up against the tree, curiosity stealing his senses.

"My dad said I needed to practice." He recognized his own cousin's voice.

_Thud_

"So why are we here?"

"I dunno. Didn't you guys need to practice, too?"

"No,"Ruffnut said with a tone that told Hiccup she was most likely rolling her eyes as she spoke.

"Well if no one else is going to practice...,"Snotlout started.

_Thud_

"She's just never going to stop,"Ruffnut sighed. It wasn't a question, but a simple fact they all assumed was true.

"I feel bad leaving her out here..." This had to be Fishlegs.

"Almost to one hundred,"a girl Hiccup could only guess was Astrid grunted, her voice strained under the exertion.

_Thud_

"Well, I'm freezing,"Tuffnut said with the accompanying sound of crackling leaves as he hit the ground, "Come on, let's get out of here." Hiccup jumped back as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer to where he was standing.

Granted, he shouldn't need to run and hide every time someone saw him. But the fact that he had been hiding from them in the first place caused him to immediately jump to the conclusion that he needed to stay hidden. Quickly, he ducked under a tree branch and flew back to the road. He was only a few feet away from the nearest tree when the twin's voices stopped him, frighteningly close.

"What was that?"Ruffnut asked. Hiccup turned slowly, knowing he was caught. However, even from across the path, the fog made it difficult to even see the two of them. Hiccup stood there for a moment, waiting as the twins looked around for the source of the noise, often looking straight in Hiccup's direction without even pausing.

"It's just a bird or something,"Tuffnut finally said, "Come on." Hiccup watched wide-eyed as the two turned around without so much as a second glance in his direction and started back down the path Hiccup had just come up from. It wasn't until they completely disappeared from sight that Hiccup realized that out here, in the fog, he was completely invisible.

Tentatively, he stepped back out into the open as the voices of the rest of his peers drifted away, taking a different route back. He stood in the middle of the road for a while, feeling the earlier sense of crushing loneliness creep back into his mind as the woods fell eerily silent.

He wondered, for all the times he had purposely sought out solitude in order to avoid inciting people's anger, what would have happened if he _had_ been seen? Was he really less invisible out here in the fog than he was on a day-to-day basis?

Hiccup stood rooted to the ground, but at last the need to move, to keep warm, finally forced him to take a step forward. He plodded dejectedly further up the path, the icy wind rubbing painfully against his back, making him shiver vigorously with cold.

Even though they probably wouldn't have cared one way or another, he suddenly wished that the twins had seen him standing there, if not only to reassure himself that he was indeed present to the world, if not at least somewhat wanted. He was used to not being noticed. And when he was, he was disruptive and a hinderance to everyone around him. His father didn't think he knew what he really meant when he told him to get his act together, but of course he did.

Sometimes he preferred being alone. And other times, he wanted so badly for everyone to know just how sorry he was, for his mistakes to be something everyone could simply laugh off. The more mistakes he made, the more he would wish they could somehow dissolve into something completely different. A joke. A simple, funny joke. That's all they were. Pretending his failures weren't a big deal had always been easier than admitting they really were. If he could joke about it, then maybe, just maybe, everyone else could, too.

A cold wind blew by, and Hiccup absently wrapped his coat tighter around himself. He shivered, looking up to see the misty fog growing thicker, blanketing his surroundings in a sheer white sheet that transformed the surrounding trees into tall, shapeless masses. He turned slowly on the spot, watching as his entire world seemed to disappear, and he became completely, utterly invisible. Nobody would ever know he was out here. He wondered if he should try to find his way home before the fog made it impossible. He tossed the thought aside, realizing nobody would even be looking for him. Besides, he thought as the mist swallowed him up...

It hurt less out here than it did in that house.

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><p>AN: If anybody cares that much about this story, I do keep frequent updates on how the next chapter is coming along in my profile. The next chapter is called "Friendship."<p> 


	5. Friendship

Chapter 5: Friendship

Hiccup ducked under a branch, checking over his shoulder to make sure he still wasn't being followed.

Hiccup wasn't sure when exactly he had decided to make it his personal mission to make sure this dragon would be able to fly again. He didn't consciously know when he began stowing away secretly to the cove every day out of absolute need, rather than a simple personal interest. He didn't fully understand how much he craved Toothless' presence until he was counting down the seconds until training was over, his body literally aching with a painful desire to run, to turn invisible to all who hated him and wished he wasn't there, and run as fast as he could to the only person who _did_ want to see him.

Maybe that was why he had initiated the contact in the first place. Maybe he saw that missing tail, and a part of him that he was trying so hard to suppress cried out to do something, to be needed by someone. Maybe he really had sunk so low that he didn't care who it was that needed him - so long as he wasn't Hiccup the Useless anymore. He would gladly turn to a dragon for friendship if it meant that someone would look at him and not feel dread and exasperation, but actually look at him and be happy to see him there. To Toothless, he was somebody. He was wanted. And that was all Hiccup had ever wanted to be.

The cove was bright and cheery compared to the gloom of the training ring. Hiccup hurried forward, his feet carrying him faster and faster with anticipation to see Toothless again. It seemed that almost overnight, visiting the trapped dragon served not only as an escape, but as a daily routine, as robotic and sub-conscious as eating. Toothless had simply become part of his everyday life, and Hiccup part of his.

He stopped himself when he was about to call out the dragon's name, spotting him resting underneath a shady tree. His back was turned - he hadn't noticed him yet. Holding his breath, he carefully readjusted the pack on his shoulder and crept down the rocks as quietly as he could. He froze as Toothless stirred. When he was sure Toothless wasn't paying attention, he carefully slid the pack off, knowing the dragon would probably smell what was inside and give him away. Quietly he crept around him, making sure not to get anywhere near his tail in case he decided to make a sudden movement.

He nearly slipped on a moss-covered rock and landed far too loudly, giving him away. The dragon stirred sleepily, turning his head slowly in the direction of the sound. But by that time, Hiccup was already behind him, out of his peripheral vision.

"Gotcha!"he suddenly shouted, pouncing. Toothless roared in surprise as the boy latched onto his neck, laughing as Toothless tried to shake him off, flailing him around in an effort to force Hiccup to let go. With a loud 'omf,' the dragon knocked Hiccup to the ground, pinning a paw to his chest. Hiccup coughed under the pressure, stars flashing in his eyes for a moment.

"Okay, okay, you win again,"he surrendered, pushing the dragon's paw off of him. He gasped for breath the moment the pressure was released, his chest heaving with relief. Toothless cooed softly in amusement, his warm muzzle gently bumping against his rider's stomach, as if he were wordlessly apologizing for being too rough on his fragile little runt of a human.

"Next time I'm not giving you a warning. I'll sneak up on you when you really are asleep,"the boy said with a devlish smile as he struggled to stand. Toothless rolled his eyes. He would still win.

"I missed you,"Hiccup said with a small smile, reaching out to place a hand gently on the dragon's snout. Toothless purred his response, closing his eyes and letting Hiccup gently stroke his head for a moment. He missed him, too. Dearly, to be honest. Ever since the boy had begun to make his visits a regular routine, Toothless began to crave his company like a starved animal. He loved his little human's ingenius creativity, his playful games, his small, warm hands that always sought to soothingly pet or scratch him. Toothless was shamelessly obsessed with the little human boy.

"I worked on some new designs last night. I think I got it this time,"he said with an eager smile, sliding his hand underneath the dragon's jaw and absently scratching the rough scales underneath. Toothless knew better now than to fall victim to the boy's deliberate scratching. He was preparing him for the possibility of failure. Still, his tail thumped excitedly in anticipitation. He needed to get off the ground. He felt exposed and vulnerable here on the ground. It was downright unnatural for him to be grounded through an entire night, when normally he would be wide awake and hunting.

"You hungry?"Hiccup asked, rubbing Toothless' nose one last time before going over to where he had hid the basket. Immediately Toothless' ears perked upwards in intrigue, staring at the basket hungrily. Try as he might, he had very little experience hunting from the ground, and his inexperience made it difficult to satiate his hunger until the boy brought his daily basket.

Hiccup stealthily snuck around the dragon's back end as Toothless ate. For a while he worked methodically on readjusting the mechanism that was slowly, but surely, evolving. He glanced behind him to make sure Toothless wasn't too far along in the basket. The dragon couldn't - wouldn't - sit still if asked.

"Done!"Hiccup announced, tightening the last wire and placing the wrench he had brought with him off to the side. The tail of a particularly slimy tuna slipped noisily down the dragon's gullet as he turned to look at him with wide eyes, as if to share his surprise that he had finished so quickly.

"Okay,"he said eagerly, hoisting himself up into the saddle and buckling himself in, "Let's give it a go." Toothless grunted in amusement. Hiccup didn't even have to bear the agony of suddenly having to accept that he couldn't fly, and he seemed just as eager as he was to get in the sky. Toothless dipped his body in a low crouch, his tail flicking in anticipation as he waited for his rider to buckle himself in. Then slowly he unfurled his long, black wings, stretching them out once before bending them slightly to gather adequate momentum for take-off.

Toothless wasted no time leaping into the air the moment Hiccup said so. The wind vibrated evenly under his wings, a steady current lifting them higher and higher with minimal effort. Toothless flapped his wings once, twice, and they were soaring over the lake, making a careful lap around the perimeter of the cove.

Hiccup smiled against the wind, lifting his head up high and closing his eyes contently. There was no greater feeling in the world than flying. Up here, absolutely nothing could touch him. Toothless made the entire world seem so small, his problems so insignificant. Up here, the war, the village, dragon training - it all felt so meaningless compared to the might and splendor of the skies. For perhaps the first time in his life, Hiccup felt empowered.

They approached the encroaching wall, and Toothless held his breath, bracing himself. He could provide the leverage, but he was forced to depend on this human boy to decide what direction they were going and when they turned - a boy who clearly knew nothing about flying.

His tailfin, held surprisingly tought and steady until now, took just a moment too long to tilt outward, forcing a surprised roar from the dragon as his feet grazed the rock wall.

"Sorry,"Hiccup shouted quickly over the wind. Toothless attempted to calm himself as they once again leveled out. They were banking on the next corner, and Toothless slowed down and tucked his wings in, already anticipating a collision. He felt his tailfin -too slowly - tilting to prepare for the turn, but by then they were already losing altitude. Toothless immediately panicked and dipped down low to land, but Hiccup was pulling against his tail-fin in the opposite direction, trying to get him back into the air. With a frightened roar, his entire body swerved in the opposite direction - toward the lake. Toothless flapped frantically, trying to right himself, but he knew the familiar sense of vertigo as the world seemed to spin and his own body betrayed him and sent him plummeting to the ground. Hiccup still didn't seem to know what to do, and kept pulling up while the other was pointed down, tilting them so far the the right that Toothless didn't have a prayer of landing on his feet.

They landed in the shallow end of the water, and though the pebbles and rocks couldn't do so much other than scratch Toothless' rough, protective scales, he knew Hiccup most likely wouldn't have fared as well.

"Oww...,"Hiccup moaned as if in response to Toothless' thought, wincing painfully as he slowly stood, knee-deep in the water. Toothless, unsurprisingly unhurt, waited to see if Hiccup could continue.

"You alright, bud?"he asked, looking up. Toothless crooned in response, giving him a much deserved eye-roll.

"Hey, that one was your fault. You can't make a close turn at the speed you were going." Toothless narrowed his eyes, flicking his sensors threateningly. He didn't need an ignorant, flightless fleshbag to tell him how to fly. _He_ should learn not to take his time maneuvering them. Shoveling a mouthful of water, Toothless raised his head and, before Hiccup could even have a chance to duck, pelted him with the same furosity and velocity he would have given in any of his firebolts.

"Toothless!"Hiccup shouted, his eyes bulging in surprise as he attempted to shake off the water dripping from his clothes. The dragon smirked with a satisfied rumble.

"Oh, you think that's funny, huh?"Hiccup asked, playfully splashing him in the face, "You're not the one who has to walk back in wet clothes." Toothless blinked hard and shook his head, trying to get the water out of his eyes. He glared at him, cautiously watching for the telling signs of a challenge. But Hiccup just smiled and laughed at him, thoughtlessly turning his back to him and trudging out of the water onto land, leaving Toothless to simply stare in wonder and amusement after him. Humans were so strange.

"Alright, I guess I deserved some of that, too,"Hiccup said nonchalantly, wringing the water out of the back of his hair. Toothless snorted in response, although this did make him feel slightly better to hear him admit it.

He waited impatiently as Hiccup attempted to dry himself off as best he could. As he bent his arm back, the sleeve of Hiccup's tunic pulled up slightly, revealing a large pink burn on his wrist that extended all the way to the back of his hand. Toothless let out a low, curious rumble. His friend was always bruised up, especially lately during their training, but these looked suspiciously like...dragon burns. Hiccup suddenly noticed the dragon staring at him and followed Toothless' line of vision.

"Oh...Um, yeah...training accident,"Hiccup said, awkwardly looking away as he realized too late what he had just said to Toothless. Toothless stared at him, his eyes narrowing. Of course Toothless knew that humans had been using dragons to train for years now. He had just simply never connected Hiccup, the boy who he loved and had learned to trust with his life, with such a disgusting, despicable act. His eyes narrowed with realization, and with just one look, Hiccup knew what Toothless was thinking.

"Toothless, I'm...I'm not hurting them,"Hiccup said quietly, looking him in the eye as he spoke, "You know I would never hurt a dragon after I met you. And I wouldn't let anybody else hurt them, either." Toothless relaxed slightly when he heard this, willing himself to believe that Hiccup was as sincere and trustworthy as he was intelligent. He pushed his head gently against him, unable to help the soft growl that escaped his throat, the sound low and sad. Hiccup slowly reached out to touch his head, understanding in a way that even Toothless didn't quite comprehend.

"I know, bud. I don't like it, either. But look at it this way, as long as I'm there protecting them, nobody's getting hurt. And that's good, right?" Toothless crooned softly, looking so intently at Hiccup that he had to lower his gaze, unnerved by the force of the statement he could feel Toothless trying to say.

_It's not good enough._

Hiccup heaved in a deep breath, steadying himself. Hiccup had had his fair share of problems, and very few weren't war-related. But everytime he looked in his dragon's eyes, he couldn't just see Toothless' empathy, he felt it. Toothless was just as affected by this war as he was. It was both unnerving to think about and yet infinitely comforting to know just how not alone he was. Toothless knew, just as well as he did, that his efforts in the training ring would never amount to anything more than just a few dragons spared from some nicks and scratches unless something more was done.

Hiccup reached out a comforting hand to Toothless, smiling weakly even though he felt just as uneasy as Toothless did. But Hiccup had always been one to trust what he knew was right, and go from there. Maybe his instincts weren't necessarily smart, but they had brought him to Toothless, and that was more than enough reason for Hiccup to follow them.

"Don't worry, bud,"he said reassuringly, scratching absently behind his headplates, "They'll be fine. We'll be fine. I know it's all a little complicated right now, but we just need to trust each other." Toothless stared at him imploringly, his large, yellow eyes boring into Hiccup's, his brow furrowed in worry. The only real comfort he felt was in the fact that his human friend was completely irrational, but that at least so far, his crazy ideas had always seemed to lead to something good.

Hiccup reached out to Toothless, smiling warmly as he looked down at his hand resting between his eyes, remembering how only a few weeks ago, a similar touch had given him the greatest opportunity he had every been offered. The war and the dangers of being caught were ever present, and yet Hiccup had never been happier.

"So, do you trust me enough to not crash this time?"he asked, tilting his head to the side. Toothless gave him an exasperated look, but Hiccup understood all too well.

_Until you grow a pair of wings yourself, never._

Hiccup smiled warmly, his foot already halfway in the stirrup.

"I'm getting better, aren't I?"he asked as he hoisted himself up in the saddle. Toothless snorted, his cynicism all too apparent.

"Come on, you know I'm not giving up on you,"he said, affectionately patting the dragon's neck. Toothless stopped unfolding his wings for a moment to look back at his rider, the softness in his eyes and and the faint upturned corners of his mouth all the words Hiccup needed to understand.

_I know._

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><p>AN:Thank you all for readingreviewing! Let me know what you thought, and, if you saw _Gift of the Night Fury, _if you liked it or not_. _I will publicly admit I had quite a few overly-excited spaz attacks watching it, I loved it so much. If you haven't seen it, go. Rent. It. NOW!


	6. Reconciliation

AN: Because finals suck, I'm running on one hour of sleep. Most of this chapter was already written, but even still, read at your own risk. I'm a little insane right now.

This chapter is kind of different from the others and kind of similar at the same time. It's similar because it's just as boring and melodramatic as the rest have been. Sorry. It's different because it features Toothless and Stoick, and because Hiccup does not have a_ single_ line of dialogue in this whole chapter. Craziness. So, let's say Hiccup is 16-ish here. He can be older if you want him to be, though.

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><p>Chapter 6: Reconciliation<p>

Toothless couldn't make any sense of Stoick. He was so nonsensibly reserved. He could tell he was proud of Hiccup, and that he loved him, but he simply wouldn't show it. Often Toothless would catch him staring wonderingly at Hiccup, watching him as he went around the village, people waving and enthusiastically greeting him, and Hiccup radiantly beaming, truly happy for perhaps the first time in his life.

Humans were surprisingly loving creatures. He would have never believed it, watching them lop off the heads of his own kind for the majority of his life. He had always been content to fly only in the dark, where nobody else could see him, until he had met Hiccup. Hiccup made him feel happier than he had ever been before alone, and he knew part of it was because humans lived off of emotions rather than instincts; they were naturally affectionate. It didn't have to be anything particularly big, but his hand on his neck, him following him around wherever he could, affectionate rubs and scratches, wanting to go flying anytime he could get away from Gobber - it all seemed to say that they were friends, and that Hiccup loved him. Toothless didn't crave it to be happy the same way humans did, but none the less, it helped him understand humans. More importantly, it helped him to understand Hiccup.

Stoick wasn't like Hiccup. What Toothless could only guess was ingrained in all humans a need for affection somehow had bypassed the Viking. He never wanted to spend time with his son like Hiccup would want to spend time with Toothless. He would never hug him or touch him. He never even looked as happy to see him as his friends were. Stoick was simply strange. A very strange breed of human.

Toothless was asleep with Hiccup next to the fire when Stoick noisely came through the door one night, dragging in the night's kill in with him. Toothless could detect the scent of boar's meat wafting through the air, the sweet stench of fresh blood clinging to the dead carcass. Toothless decided to pretend to stay asleep, uninterested with whatever awkward one-sided small talk Stoick would have to offer, and even less interested with food he knew he wasn't allowed to eat.

"Fell asleep by the fire again,"he grumbled, shaking his head, "Told him that wasn't healthy." It wasn't really their fault, Toothless thought lazily. They had flown longer than usual today, experimenting with new tricks, spinning, twirling, diving from impossibly high altitudes, just to see how fast they could go. It had been the longest, most intense roller coaster ride they had ever subjected themselves to, so it was only natural they would both collapse the second they got home.

Usually after one of Stoick's hunting expeditions, he would immediately turn in for the night. But Toothless was surprised when he unexpectedly heard the door open once more. He looked up just in time to see a flash of red from the man's beard before the door shut quietly behind him.

Now where on earth would he be going this late at night?

Carefully moving so as not to wake Hiccup, Toothless silently crept toward the door, pushing it open and sneaking silently outside into the dark night. If Stoick turned around at any moment, there was no way he would be able to see him. Toothless was in his element now.

He kept careful watch, following the larger man deep into the forest. They kept at a steady incline, Stoick only turning around to look behind him once. Toothless crouched down low, shutting his eyes so the yellow glow wouldn't give him away. Cloaked in darkness, Stoick remained oblivious, swinging the lanturn he held back around and continuing on the path.

At last they reached the top of the summit, which appeared to be flat and barren. Toothless nestled himself in the shadow of a tree and looked around. The place seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember when he had seen it. There was nothing to it except a long stretch of dirt and a few small stones, some with writing on them. Looking more closely, he could see then that the stones were arranged in particular patterns. This was obviously manmade.

Toothless stood a few meter's away from where the farthest ray of lamplight touched the ground, watching as Stoick paused by a circle of stones, peering down at them. What was he doing?

"...Evening, Val,"he finally said, his voice quiet and strangely weak. Toothless tilted his head, listening.

"I know it's late...but I was afraid I wouldn't have time to come tomorrow. We're expectin' to set off for one last hunting expedition before the snow gets too thick, and I don't know when I'll be back. I didn't want to miss the...the anniversary,"he said, wringing his hands as he spoke, "I'd imagine Hiccup might come, too, sometime tomorrow." He paused, struggling to say something.

"I suppose...Hiccup might not have visited for a while. He probably hasn't even introduced you to Toothless yet. I told you about him, Toothless I mean. They're as close as any two friends I've ever seen, he and that dragon. Hiccup loves him a lot. To be honest...sometimes I see the two of them together, and I can't help but feel a little jealous. It makes me wonder what I could have done better to make him trust me the way he trusts Toothless. I never had a prayer of making him as happy as that dragon does. I don't blame him, the way I treat him sometimes. He would have trusted you, though..." Toothless listened intently, as still as he could possibly be. He didn't understand who Stoick was speaking to, but whoever it was was clearly a part of Hiccup's life, too.

"I wish he knew how much I love him - how much we love him. But he becomes more distant every day. I always thought the older he'd get, the closer we'd be. But sometimes...I'm afraid we're both forgetting you, Val...Hiccup might already be starting to forget me..." Stoick stopped for a moment. He had his back to Toothless, but Toothless could see the man lowering his head, his words either too weak to admit out loud or so precious that even the stars were not trustworthy enough to carry his secrets. When he lifted his head again, Toothless caught a moment's glimpse of his face from the lamplight. His face looked tired, worn, lined with wrinkles and scars from old age and wisdom learned from a lifetime of playing trial and error. Toothless couldn't help but stare, so struck by the difference in his entire persona. If he hadn't been watching him this entire time, he would have thought he was looking at a completely different person.

It was only when Stoick turned his back, once again obscuring his face from Toothless' vision, that he decided to make his escape. Whatever else he had to say, he seemed to prefer to say it silently. Toothless backed slowly away, his eyes trained on the large man. Stoick turned suddenly at the sound of a cracking twig. Toothless, completely invisible in the darkness, didn't think anything of it. However, as invisible as his body was, his right tailfin was not, and the flash of red and white was more than enough to betray an invisible presence to the Viking. He looked closely at the area he had seen the tail, his brow furrowed in confusion, but by then Toothless was already gone.

Toothless stole back to the house, getting frustrated with the lock on the door at first, but somehow managing to find a way back inside. Hiccup was right where he left him, sleeping soundly on the floor. Toothless reclaimed his spot back by his side, laying his head down on his paw, his thoughts running too wildly to sleep. He turned his head and stared at the back of Hiccup's head for a moment, breathing in the familiar scent of ash and wood that ever emanated from his sleeping friend, wishing he was awake so that he could help him understand what he had seen. He didn't know exactly who Stoick had been talking to, (though he could probably guess) and he didn't really understand why he was talking to rocks. But he did know that what he had seen was something Stoick would have never done in front of anyone else.

Stoick returned nearly an hour later, carrying the lantern that was nearly completely out by now. Toothless didn't even pretend to be asleep. He lifted his head when the man came in, eyeing him carefully. Stoick's expression was once again composed, hard and determined as he always seemed, bearing no traces of the weakness Toothless had seen in him standing by that grave. There was nothing now to show how tired and oppressed the man really felt.

Stoick sighed heavily, setting the lantern down on the table and moving closer to the fire to warm his hands. He stood a good distance away from the dragon, not looking at him and not bothering to acknowledge him, despite the large, yellow eyes that seemed to bore a hole right through his skull with the fervor or their stare. He was not normally accustomed to being alone with the dragon. Their relationship, for the most part, was awkward and uncomfortable, at least on Stoick's part. Whether Toothless cared that Stoick was in the room or not, however, still remained a mystery to him. Stoick endured the dragon's staring for a few minutes, and then began to get irritated.

"Will you stop that?"he finally asked, "Don't you ever get tired of watching him? You're a dragon - go outside." Toothless cocked an ear, looking completely oblivious.

Stoick sighed heavily, pulling down on his face as he sank back into a chair, thinking it to be a hopeless cause. Toothless stared at him from across the room, his eyes large and round and never blinking. He took in this man who dragons had feared for decades, who he had seen orchestrate mass murders, killing many of his own single-handedly. And yet, none of that seemed to matter, because right now, that person looked no less fiercer than Hiccup looked now sleeping.

Humans were emotional creatures. This, Toothless knew. They laughed, they cried, they bled, they hurt more potently than dragons did. Their short lives were only somewhat compensated by how seriously they lived them. What were really only silly, minor inconveniences were enormous catastrophes. One wrong step could mean a serious injury. A wrong word could mean a broken heart. A death could mean the end of the world.

Toothless stared hard at Stoick, tired and yet just as serious and thick-headed as when he had left only an hour before. Toothless remembered how, just a few years ago, Hiccup had carried a similar sadness, only instead of hiding his feelings with a serious grimace, he would hide it with a small smile and a sarcastic joke. Toothless saw through it, though. Sometimes he would catch his friend without his mask, unable to keep from baring his weakness and inability to reconcile with his own awkwardness and loneliness. Perhaps Stoick, too, held in things he didn't know how to reconcile with.

At some point, Toothless must have gotten tired and rested his head back on his paws. Empty silence filled the house for a while, interrupted only by the crackling flames. Just when Toothless thought Stoick had fallen asleep, he heard the scraping of the chair as the Viking stood. He opened his eyes only when he heard, or rather felt, his footsteps reverberating through the floorboards, coming closer. Toothless lifted his head off the floor just enough to see Stoick standing over him, his gaze not directed at the sleepy dragon, but at Hiccup.

He stood there in silence for a long time, studying his only child's face as he slept. Hiccup had gotten taller since he met Toothless, his body too slowly filling in to accommodate his growth. There was a steady, sureness in his expression, even as he slept. Years under the care and love of a friend had certainly helped in that regard. The arm that pillowed his head was corded with lean muscle, and even though his body was submerged under blankets, Stoick knew his son was developing into the early stages of manhood. His face, turned slightly toward Toothless even when he slept, bore a few of the same marks of maturity and experience that his father bore, although he probably would never be able to recognize the correlation until he had children of his own.

Stoick moved reluctantly, his fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to bring himself to say what he needed to. Finally, he stopped, turning his head just a fraction of an inch.

"Take him there tomorrow, will you?"he finally asked, piercing the silence. He looked at the dragon, his expression cautious yet stubbornly serious, as if he was trying to prove that whatever he had had seen out there had been nothing more than an illusion.

Toothless raised his head an inch higher, utter surprise the only thing keeping him awake at this point. He snorted disdainfully, for a moment lost in the incredulousness of the idea that he, a Night Fury, could have possibly been seen in the dead of night, when even those with the sharpest eyes were blind to his speed and stealth. The Viking clearly had made a lucky guess.

Toothless hesitated and turned his head, wrinkling his nose and breathing out a soft puff of air, gently tousling Hiccup's hair as he slept. The dragon only glanced at Stoick for a moment before lowering his head once more, but it was more than enough of an answer for the Viking. Toothless closed his eyes as Stoick quietly left the room, listening to the soft breaths of his rider asleep next to him, the slow but steady heartbeat, and the warm, comforting crackle of the fire that promised safety and comfort after every crazy adventure the boy came up with.

Stoick was a strange breed of human. But so was Hiccup. And Toothless had already decided he liked strange.

* * *

><p>AN: And thus commences the awkward friendship of Stoick and Toothless. :) Next chapter is called "Relationships," and life is wonderfully free for the first time in a very long time. :) I love winter break.<p> 


	7. Relationships

AN: This one's pretty short. Sorry?

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Relationships<p>

"Say it."

"No."

"Come on, it's just three little words."

"No." Hiccup rolled his eyes, letting the hand on Astrid's waist drop. Toothless peered up from the chipmunk he was chasing, watching in interest.

"I don't understand what the big deal is."

"I just can't. I don't know how to explain it. I'll do it on my own, but not when you ask." Hiccup thought for a moment, considering this.

"Well then, I guess I simply can't kiss you until I hear it,"he finally said, sliding off the rock they were sitting on. Astrid tossed her head in his direction, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, right, you'll forget by tomorrow,"she scoffed, folding her arms against her chest. Hiccup shrugged, coming over to Toothless instead.

"Oh yeah? I've gone fifteen years without being kissed. You really think I couldn't handle a few hours?"

"A few hours? Do you know who you're talking to?"she asked, a teasing smile on her lips.

"However long it takes, I'll wait."

"You know this is not your brightest idea, Hiccup. You're going to be waiting years if you really want to make a competition out of it." He just smiled, knowing she was probably right, but still unwilling to let this go.

"Come on, Astrid, even Toothless knows you do." Astrid glared at the dragon as he knowingly stared right back at her.

"It doesn't mean I'm going to say it whenever you want me to."

"But you will,"he said, absently placing his hand on the dragon's neck, "I already know you do." Toothless snorted in agreement. It really was only a matter of time and pressure.

"If you already know I do, why do you need me to say it?"she asked. Hiccup smiled, tilting his head to the side.

"Because. I like hearing it out loud,"he said simply, smiling sweetly at her. Astrid looked away, more to avoid that charming awkward smile than because she was actually mad. Even so, she absolutely _hated_ losing.

"The more you push it, the more I'll refuse,"she said with a tone of finality.

"I've got all the time in the world to wait,"he answered with a sly smile, pulling himself on his dragon's saddle.

"You're going to be waiting a long time, then!"she snapped, stubbornness and determination making her probably look and sound angrier than she actually was.

"Well then, since you obviously don't care one way or another, you wouldn't mind if I just played hooky for the rest of the day with Toothless, would you?" Toothless felt his ears perk up in surprising delight. Hiccup was actually going to leave the girl for a whole day, just to play with him? He liked this plan.

"Fine. Go ahead,"she said, trying to look aloof, "See if I care."

"Alright, then,"he said with a shrug, smiling teasingly. She tried to keep her face blank and uncaring as she looked up at the clouds, watching as Toothless pushed off from the ground, his wings flapping powerfully as the two streaked across the sky. Hiccup looked back behind him just in time to see a satisfying look of disappointment cross her face.

"It really is just a matter of time,"he said again, closing his eyes and sighing against the cool rushing air. Toothless snorted.

Definitely.

* * *

><p>Hiccup didn't actually have the entire day off, but he took Toothless flying for a few hours, regardless. Gobber looked less than pleased on his return to the forge, but Hiccup didn't care.<p>

Hiccup and Astrid stubbornly did their best to avoid each other for the next few days. That is, they made a half-hearted effort, but ultimately failed. Occasionally when Hiccup was working in the forge, he would look up and catch Astrid watching him from the open window. She would quickly pretend to be preoccupied the second he caught her looking, disappearing for a few hours only to catch her again later. She never spoke to him, but he would see her everywhere, as if the only real comfort she could find from being too stubborn to talk to him was being able to be close by.

Hiccup felt a little guilty making her feel awkward to talk to even talk to him, so instead of deliberately avoiding her, he would try casually teasing her about it in hopes that his regular, light-hearted sarcasm would be enough to convince her he really wasn't as offended as she thought he was. It wasn't long before he had begun to notice a slight change in behavior. No matter how casually he joked about it, there always seemed to be something he said that would ring more potently to her than the last time. He could see the tinge of guilt in her eyes when they were together, as if even bringing up the subject made her uncomfortable. She avoided him all the more because he would talk about it, and yet she would start to do strange, unpredictable things for him that completely baffled him.

Sometimes Hiccup would wake up and find that half his chores were already done. Sometimes he would go down to the docks to surprise Toothless with a snack, and later find his dragon suspiciously not hungry. He had found a neat pile of freshly chopped firewood waiting by his door one day, and even a pot of hot stew on his porch on another.

It was then that Hiccup decided it was time to talk.

He found her near the back of her house, readying a leather saddle on to Stormfly's back, getting ready to go for a flight. She stopped when she saw Hiccup nearly running up to her, the expression on his face all she needed to tell that he was coming over to have a serious talk.

"What are you doing?"he called out before he had even reached her.

"What do you mean?"she asked, abandoning the saddle.

"I mean, what's with all the stuff you've been doing for me?" He had finally stopped, standing solidly in front of her, waiting for her answer.

"What stuff?"she asked innocently.

"What do you mean, 'what stuff'? Who else could it be, Astrid?"he asked with slight exasperation.

"You know why,"she said, her voice weaker than usual as she looked away, purposely looking preoccupied with her dragon.

"No, I _don't_,"he said, looking pleadingly at her. Though he had always been lanky, he was taller than her, but she had never felt as though he were towering over her. Even now, as he looked down on her, his face was patient and unthreatening. He stared imploringly at her, waiting.

"Because I love you, idiot,"she finally answered. She gasped slightly as he suddenly pulled her in for a kiss, his arms wrapped securely around her, letting her know that she was safe to say it here.

"About time."


	8. Love

Chapter 8: Love

Toothless didn't very much like Hiccup's son. He was loud, annoying, and absolutely uselessly small and incompetent for the longest, most pain-staking amount of time Toothless had ever endured. Nevertheles, the boy, much to Toothless' annoyance, not only loved Toothless with a fervant passion, but demanded his attention every second of the day. The dragon suddenly found himself a slave to the most ridiculous, pointless games, whiny pleas for dragon-back rides, and absolutely torturing babysitting jobs. The boy especially loved to wrap his arms tightly around the dragon's head and be tossed recklessly from side to side until he got dizzy from laughing so hard. Hiccup had gotten angry at him when he threw him so hard that he flew off and, luckily, landed in a bush. Now Toothless knew to be careful with young children.

The boy was tiny, tinier than Toothless ever remembered Hiccup being. Toothless didn't know humans could be so small until he met Peeta for the first time. Despite his size, though, Toothless learned to love Hiccup's son, despite the few years of nothing but persistant crying and smelling of poop. Although Toothless would never admit it, Peeta was almost - _almost -_actually fun to play with.

"I'm going to get you this time...,"he heard a familiar voice whisper from somewhere behind him one day. Toothless grunted in amusement. Whenever he set out to enjoy his day, that boy wasn't too far behind to try and ruin it. Luckily he was only five, so he couldn't do much damage. Still, Toothless could only imagine what kind of mayhem that boy would ravage in the near future.

"Yaaaaaah!"a tiny, small figure screamed, tearing out of the bushes where he was hiding and jumping as high as he could to reach Toothless' neck. He would have missed it by just a few inches, if Toothless hadn't bent his head down at the last minute to let him cheat a little. With just one jerk of his head, Toothless managed to shake the squirming boy off, his arms still too weak to hold onto him for very long, even when he was gentle. The toddler was knocked on his back and immediately squirmed to get away. To stop him, Toothless pushed his two front paws into the boy's sides, pinning him to the ground.

"No, lemme go!"he squealed, squirming as hard as a five-year old possibly could to break free. Toothless responded instead by dipping his head, taking in a deep breath, and blowing as hard as he could into his stomach. The desperate squeals and grunts immediately transformed into loud peels of laughter. When his air supply finally depleted, he decided it was time to go in for the kill. Opening his mouth wide, he stuck out his tongue and moved in, agonizingly slow. He was going to get it now.

"Aah! Toothless, no!"he screamed. Toothless ignored him, inching closer. It had to be done.

He absolutely hated being licked, more than anything in the world. So naturally, Toothless had no choice but to delver as slobbery of a tongue bath as he could. It was only fair. Annoying runt, sneaking up on him all the time.

"Nooo!"he screamed, now pushing as hard as he could against the dragon's forepaw. He only leaned in closer in response, purposely teasing him, watching in amusement as he struggled against him. He was so close...

"TOOTHLESS!" Toothless lifted his eyes up to see Hiccup, standing over him with his hands on his hips, his face contorted in incredulous anger. Toothless didn't move, his tongue still shamelessly dangling out as he waited for his chastizement.

"What did I _just_ talk to you about?"Hiccup asked louldy, looking down on him as his ears guiltily flattened. Hiccup was (finally) taller than him now, and stood looking down on him, his heated glare all the more piercing from up high. Toothless rolled his eyes, reluctantly removing his paw from the boy's chest and moving off of him. Hiccup waited until his son had managed to stand and run back to his father, holding onto his pant leg and staring at the black dragon, as if daring him to try and get him now.

"You two...,"Hiccup sighed, scooping his son into his arms and turning back into the forge. Toothless followed him inside, raising his head to Peeta's level as Hiccup placed him carefully on the worktable. Peeta purposely moved to the furthest side of the table, discomforted by the almost threatening gleam in Toothless' eyes. The look on Toothless' face as he moved to a corner of the room promised revenge; he wasn't done with him just yet.

Hiccup had barely begun work for the day when he heard the jarring, if not playful, screams of his son. Peeta would have to stay with him for now, already knowing that Toothless would want his revenge no matter how much he tried to persuade them to just leave each other alone.

"Dad, I want to go,"Peeta whined.

"Not until you two can behave,"Hiccup countered, preparing the iron.

"I'll be good,"he pleaded desperately. Hiccup sighed, setting the mold he had been working on aside to turn to his son.

"If you stay put, I'll let you do a woodcut." Peeta's face lit up when he heard this. Woodcuts were a dangerous ordeal, made by taking a knife and carving away the parts you didn't want out of a block of soft wood. It was something that his mother would have absolutely forbidden, and was all the more special between he and his father because of its secrecy.

"Can I make a tree?"he asked hopefully. Hiccup hesitated, considering how much time he had. He checked out the window to make sure _she_around, then turned and reached up on the highest shelf. He wasn't really in the mood to work anyway.

"Daddy? How old is Toothless?"Peeta asked as Hiccup handed him a small block of wood. Hiccup got out a cutting knife and dulled it on the spinning wheel until he was sure the knife was as safe as a knife could be. Turning back to his son, he took his smaller hand in his own own and guided his hands around the corners of the block very carefully, keeping his inexperienced fingers from slipping over the rounded edges.

"I don't know, son,"he said, then casting Toothless a teasing glance, continued, "Too old for any girl to want him now, that's for sure." Toothless was about to butt his head into him for good measure, but decided against it at the last minute. That was another thing he wasn't allowed to do anymore: do any kind of mischief when Peeta had a knife in his hand - even a dull one.

"Wait...so Toothless will never get married?"Peeta asked, looking very upset over the thought. Hiccup laughed, ruffling his hair, but this did nothing to settle Peeta's worries.

"I don't really think dragons get married, Peeta." He stopped to look at him, confused.

"But then how do they make babies?" Hiccup saw Peeta's hand turn awkwardly as he rounded a corner, and gratefully took the opportunity to distract him from the question.

"Careful,"he warned in a soft murmur, readjusting his hold on his son's unsteady hand. Peeta stopped for a moment, letting his father take control as he carefully worked out the sharp corner where the body of leaves finally touched the wood, carefully digging away until he felt safe returning the block to Peeta, his hands resuming their place over his son's as he guided him down the length of what would soon be the trunk.

"Le'mme do it,"he said, pulling the block a little closer to him. Hiccup hesitated. Normally he would adamantly refuse to ever let his son be anywhere near a knife without his supervision, but this time he relented, watching closely, ready to take it from him at a moment's notice.

Peeta seemed just as surprised at his father's trust in him, and held it a little more firmly, his gaze focused a little more carefully than before as he burrowed clumsy, uneven trenches into the wood. His brow furrowed in concentration and frustration as his attempts to smooth out his own jagged lines repeatedly failed, slowly but surely digging a concave bowl into the side of the tree. Hiccup held his tongue, watching until the last possible moment to interfere.

"You do it,"Peeta finally said, handing the block back over with a saddening look of defeat. Hiccup shook his head, again placing his son's hand in his.

"You can do it. Just follow me."

"You're better,"he mumbled almost accusingly, a hint of resentment tinging his voice.

"Well I've had more practice,"Hiccup answered simply with a gentle smile, "But I wasn't nearly as good as you are now when I was your age, so someday you'll be better than me." Peeta smiled with satisfaction at the thought.

"Did Grandpa teach you?"

"Oh no,"he said with a shake of his head, "I never even tried this when I was your age. Grandpa would have never let me when I was as little as you."

"How come?"

"Because he didn't have time to sit and watch me to make sure I was being careful. Things like this would have been seen as a waste of time. It just wasn't practical. He probably could have come up with a hundred other ways for me to use a knife other than this."

"Like what?"

"Like learning how to defend yourself. Learning how to kill dragons,"he said, his fixed on the piece of wood as he slowly rotated it, working his way around, "When I was little, we were in the middle of a war. We were always fighting dragons or getting ready to fight dragons. Grandpa would have wanted me to learn to use a knife for other things."

"Huh? You fought dragons?"Peeta asked, looking genuninely confused now.

"That's right. Toothless here was a bonafide monster. Every time he showed up, everyone would scream, "Night Fury!" and duck under their shields." He smiled teasingly at Toothless, curled up in the corner. Toothless lifted his head at the sound of his name and rolled his eyes, wrapping his tail tighter in around him.

"Daddy, stop teasing."

"I'm serious, son. Berk was a part of a three-hundred year old war before you were born. Me, Grandpa, you're great-grandpa, and your great-great-grandpa were all a part of it." Peeta stared blankly at him, looking skeptical.

"Are you kidding, Dad?"

"There, I fixed it for you,"Hiccup said, clearly distracted as he held up the half-finished sculpture, the trunk now unrealistically concave on all sides. It looked silly and distorted to Hiccup, but at least it was symmetrical.

"Dad! Was there really a war or not?"he pressed, letting his father drop the unfinished block into his empty hands, barely looking at it now.

"There was indeed, Peeta,"he answered.

"But...I thought you loved dragons...Why were you fighting?"

"Of course I love dragons, but that doesn't mean I always did. Even Toothless and I were enemies before we met." This seemed to severely upset Peeta.

"Were you enemies with Stormfly, too?"he asked, aghast at the very idea that his own father could particate in a war against their own family's dragons. Hiccup hesitated, seeing how much this information was affecting his son.

"Stormfly was a training dragon. We would have never killed a training dragon, so we were nicer to Stormfly,"he said gently. This seemed to relax Peeta, but only slightly. He looked down at his hands, not really knowing what to say. Hiccup looked uncertain for a moment, casting a quick glance at Toothless, who, albeit his earlier behavior, looked just as concerned.

"Hey, Peeta...war's a horrible thing, but the happiness and relief we feel that it's over outweighs the pain of fighting any day. No matter what happened, we love our dragons, and they love us. Even if Toothless is sometimes a brat." Peeta shifted uncomfortably, weighing his father's words.

"Mommy says that's not a nice word,"he said quietly.

"You're right,"he said with an apologetic smile, "It's not. Nevertheless, Toothless is, indeed, a brat." Peeta laughed, the mood easily lifting.

"My head still hurts from where Toothless pushed me,"he confessed lightly.

"I was going to say...,"he mused aloud, smoothing back Peeta's unruly light-brown hair until he found a small bump on the back of his head, "Mommy's not going to like that..."

"How come Toothless is so mean, Dad?"

"Because he resents that you were a helpless baby longer than he would have liked,"he answered, laughing lightly at the dumbfounded expression on his son's face, "Baby dragons can fly and begin to learn to take care of themselves within a few few weeks. Human babies take a few years."

"But that's not fair!"Peeta cried indignantly. His father smiled and shrugged, beginning to sweep the wood shavings off the table.

"All's fair in love and war,"he said nonchalantly, taking the knife and placing it carefully back on the high shelf.

"What does that mean?"he asked. Hiccup hesitated, thinking about this.

"It means it's okay to fight back, because Toothless loves you,"his father finally answered. Peeta stared at him, a blank expression on his face.

"Huh?" Turning to the sound of Toothless' grunting from the corner, he met the dragon's hard stare, the look on his face more than enough to dissolve their language barrier:

_You're horrible. You're absolutely horrible._

Hiccup smiled widely and turned back to Peeta, leaning forward and kissing the crown of his son's head.

"It may not seem like it sometimes, no matter how much he tortures you, he's doing it out of love,"Hiccup explained, tilting his head. Peeta hesitated.

"Well...it sure doesn't feel like it,"he said doubtfully, looking skeptically at Toothless as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hmm..,"Hiccup said thoughtfully, "Well, you are at a bit of a disadvantage, seeing as you're five, and Toothless is...well, a dragon. So would it make it feel better if I told you his weaknesses?" Peeta's eyes widened with intrigue. He nodded vigorously, leaning in closer. Hiccup leaned forward, dropping his voice low enough that Toothless couldn't hear him. Peeta stared at him incredulously as he spoke, indiscreetly turning his head to look straight at Toothless.

"Really? That's all I have to do?"he asked wonderingly. Hiccup nodded, smirking at the astonished look on Toothless' face.

_Traitor, _he seemed to say, glaring furiously at Hiccup. A low growl rose up deep in his throat, daring them to challenge him, weak spot or no weak spot. Peeta looked dangerously mischievous as he eyed Toothless down, the pain in his head forgotten as Hiccup watched the devious plans he had in store for the dragon flash behind his eyes. Peace or no peace, young or old, this could only mean one thing:

War.

* * *

><p>AN: Explanation for name: I learned what I chiasmus was from my religion professor. Ultimately, my professor was the reason I even thought of doing this story. So this semester, I decided to take a New Testament class from him, and we were talking about the significance of the apostle Peter's name(Peeta in Greek). Again, PM if you care. So when I was searching for appropriate names, I discovered that Peeta was, coincidentally, also a Scandinavian name. So in honor of the professor who gave me the idea for this story, I named Hiccup's son after a topic we covered in a Bible class...It made more sense in my head.<p>

A few issues regarding future chapters: One, I got a job. Yay for me, bad for those who, for whatever reason, actually like this story. Second, I don't have a single word pre-written for the next three or four chapters...yeah. AND, I'm working on like five different stories at the same time. Basically what I'm saying is, progress might be slow and I'm very sorry for that.

I made a deviantart account(finally!) I say finally because I'm definitely more artist than writer, and it's kind of weird to me that I've had an account here for forever, and I'm only now putting up art. Right now it's mostly sketches, assignments, and personal projects, but I'll probably be adding some fanart up soon. I'm not going to post the link to my profile; this is just for you guys. Here's the only relevant piece of fanart up right now. It's Hiccup. You'll need to zoom, sorry.

(delete the spaces) ladylore3 .deviantart gallery /# /d4jucg3

Like it or hate it, it's there. ONE last thing: I might be changing my penname so I can keep my fanfiction and deviantart account a little more separate. That's just a head's up so nobody's wondering where I disappeared to. I haven't really picked one out yet, but if you find this story, you can find me. Thanks for reading!


	9. Honor

AN: Very important announcement: I'm in the middle of transferring all my stories from LadyLore56 to my new account, ScatterSunshine30. This does NOT mean I simply changed my name, it means it is a COMPLETELY new account. That means that I literally had to post this as a new story, that I lost all favorites, alerts, hits, and (original) reviews, and that those who have this story on their favorites/alerts, including author alert, will no longer get updates. LadyLore56 is being permanently wiped clean. So, if you were so inclined to favorite/alert this story, you need to do it again here, because by the end of this week, it will be gone from your records.

For those of you who don't check this site regularly and who rely on author alert to tell you when your favorite stories have been updated, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you. What I plan is kind of sort of against site policy...but let's just say when you see a little duplicate "ghost post," ignore it. It'll be gone within a day.

On another note, I have to sincerely apologize for my two-month hiatus. A lot has been going on in my family and personal life. It hasn't gotten any better, but I'm an optimistic person, and I believe in hope. So I'm sure it will someday :)

Oy, I did not like writing this chapter...Hiccup is kind of old here. Like "old man" old. And if you haven't seen Gift of the Night Fury, you might be slightly confused. It's on youtube now - go watch it. It'll change your life, no joke.

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><p>Chapter 9: Honor<p>

Toothless pumped his wings once, twice, dipping low beneath a dark cloud and coming back up again, higher and higher until his wings began to ache from the strain. Every stroke was strong and sure. He had grown with his rider, gaining strength in previously weak muscles with every inch that his rider grew and every pound that he gained. They moved together now not as an invisible speck streaking across the sky, but as a powerful force not to be trifled with.

The wind rippled heavily under his wings; the sun beat pleasantly on his back. He heard the click of the mechanism controlling his fin before he felt the exertion on his tail, tilting him ever so slightly in the direction of home. A deep, contented rumble vibrated through the dragon's throat as he pointed his nose downward, trying to breathe as evenly as he could so his rider couldn't hear how much the climb had tired him. Maybe Hiccup was getting fatter. Or maybe Toothless was just getting old.

They touched ground in one swoop, kicking snow into the air as the dragon landed deftly on his feet. The villager's eyes were on them, watching as they made their way through the square, footsteps heavy and laden with exhaustion. The village was alive and busy, dragons and humans alike. People greeted them warmly, asking them about their flight, making small talk with Hiccup and offering small smiles to Toothless.

The dragon growled deep in his throat as they passed by a youngling's Monstrous Nightmare. The boy who cared for the dragon was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but this did nothing to make Toothless less wary of the Nightmare's presence. The pale yellow dragon was significantly younger than Toothless, yet still somehow towered over him, besting many of the adults of his kind in size and strength. Toothless could care less about this one little fact...if the Nightmare didn't make a point of making sure everybody within a five foot radius knew it.

He met his rival's heated glare and bared his teeth, wordlessly demanding that he step aside. The bigger dragon stretched his neck so that he flaunted his full height, glaring spitefully down at the Night Fury. Once esteemed as the fiercest, strongest and most worthy fighter, Toothless' relatively sedentary lifestyle tethered to a human man with a crippled fin had finally come back to haunt him. To the Nightmare, Toothless was nothing more than a worthless handicap - a disgrace to their noble race. Ignorant and innocently naive as the hatchling was, it didn't mean Toothless was going to let this assumption go unpunished. With a snap of his teeth, Toothless startled the dragon back and away. The Nightmare retaliated, reeling back and firing sparks at his prosthetic tail, to which Toothless easily sidestepped.

"Whoa!"his rider shouted as a stray ember grazed his arm, "Cool it, you two!" Furious now, Toothless whipped around and opened his maw wide to unleash a fierce roar, startling the youngling back as he cowered away. He didn't divert his gaze until he was sure the other dragon was gone, all the while regretting having not sent a plasma ball at him for good measure.

"He just can't take a hint, can he?"Hiccup sighed as they ascended the steps to the house. When Hiccup was answered with silence, he turned slowly to see Toothless plodding along behind him, his head low and his eyes downcast. He didn't push the issue. Toothless was proud enough to not let his undeserved treatment bother him, but even Hiccup knew better than to further inflate the issue by acknowledging it.

"I need to make my rounds through the village,"Hiccup told his dragon, "I'll go put the riding gear away and we can go." Hiccup didn't need to wait for a sign of consentment, and Toothless didn't need to question whether he was going or not. The dragon and rider had fallen into a monochromatic routine, broken only by the occasional holiday or spontaneous disaster. Of course Toothless would go with him. What else was he supposed to do?

"Let's go,"Hiccup said when he came back out of the house, leading the way back into the square. Toothless followed dutifully, tailing close behind as Hiccup stopped every once in a while to speak to someone. Toothless knew the village just as well as Hiccup did. He knew Hiccup's routine: who in the village had the most important jobs, who Hiccup liked and didn't like. He even knew things Hiccup was oblivious about: the young teenagers sneaking away to the woods any chance they could get to be together; the young mother who secretly had a love affair with one of the foreign traders who came to port every month; and the old woman who secretly sold suspicious-smelling bags under the table when she thought no one was looking. Toothless carried these people's secrets when they had nothing else to hide from their chief. In a sense, Toothless knew this village better than even Hiccup did.

At the sound of a high-pitched squeal, Toothless turned his head, spotting the little girl from the house with the leaking roof, daughter of the man who smelled like rotting fish, who had a wife who was too often sick. The girl saw Toothless watching and stared back. Hiccup, breaking his attention from the Viking he was speaking to, followed his dragon's line of sight and waved to the girl. She waved back, quickly picking up the bucket she had been carrying. Judging by the puddle on her porch, Toothless could only guess she had cried out from accidentally dropping it.

"Broma,"Hiccup called out, approaching her, "Is your father around?" The little girl looked shyly down at the ground, pointing to the direction of the ocean.

"He's at the docks." Hiccup smiled and thanked her, turning to leave.

"Chief Hiccup?"the little girl suddenly called out, stopping him.

"Yes?"he asked, looking back.

"Um...Can I pet your dragon?" Hiccup had to refrain from from laughing too hard. The look of complete, utter disbelief on Toothless' face was simply too priceless.

"Why would you want to pet Toothless?"he asked, managing a tight smile.

"He's so cute,"she said with an innocent smile, tilting her head to the side as she observed Toothless. Her reply seemed to offend the dragon just as much as it flattered him. Toothless understood the human language enough to know that there was a slight connotation of inferiority and childish ignorance behind the word "cute."

"Well, why don't you ask him?"Hiccup asked, still smiling.

"Well he's _your _dragon,"she said, ignoring Toothless and speaking only to Hiccup.

"He's my companion,"Hiccup corrected with a gentle smile, "Dragons are proud creatures, Broma. Toothless isn't a pet; he's nothing less than my best friend. I'd bet that your own dragon would want you to think of her that way as well."

"My dragon likes my daddy better,"she said, hesitantly reaching out for Toothless' nose and rubbing it experimentally, "My friend Oja's dragon likes me, though. In fact, he likes me better than her."

"Maybe you two can trade,"Hiccup teased.

"Oh yes, I would love that!"she said, growing bored with Toothless the moment she realized he did not feel very different at all from any other dragon, "Wouldn't you want a new one someday, Chief Hiccup?" Hiccup frowned, perplexed.

"Why would I want a new dragon?"he asked the girl. She responded by pointing a finger at Toothless.

"That one's broken."

Toothless couldn't help the sharp growl that erupted from his throat, frightening the little girl and forcing her to jump back with a small scream. The dragon glared at her, teeth bared menacingly.

"Toothless,"Hiccup warned quietly under his breath. People had already turned to stare at them. Hiccup held his breath, trying to decide what to do before the young girl made a scene.

"I'm sorry, Broma,"he said quickly, "He didn't mean to hurt you. He just got a little upset. Like I said, dragons are very proud creatures. They don't like being told they can't fly." She stared up at Hiccup, her eyes glistening with frightened, unshed tears.

"But...but all dragons can fly. So how can they not like being told they can't fly if all of them can fly?"

"Toothless can fly,"he answered seriously. Broma stared at him, looking as if she wanted to argue, but knowing better than to challenge authority. Hiccup straightened, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"I'm sorry,"he repeated, his expression suddenly stony, "We'll go now. You have a good afternoon. Don't forget to tell your father that I need to talk to him about the next hunting expedition." The girl nodded stiffly, watching apprehensively as the chief and his dragon turned and began to walk away. Hiccup felt the curious stares of his onlookers on his back as he walked and picked up the pace.

"Toothless, she's just a little girl. She doesn't know any better. You know that,"Hiccup whispered under his breath to him the moment they were out of earshot. He turned to face the dragon, his stare uncharacteristically serious and unsympathetic. "You need to calm down. It's embarrassing for me when you act up like that."

Almost instantly, a flare of defensive anger rose up within the dragon, building dangerously fast as his eyes narrowed, tail flicking irritably from side to side. Of course Hiccup would think so. Even without a leg, Hiccup had never once been accused of being crippled, especially not with such honest conviction.

Hiccup watched the expression on his dragon's face contort in anger and felt his own gradually soften in guilt. It may have hurt his friend's pride, but nevertheless, it needed to be said.

"I'm sorry, bud, but it's true. I know it's hard when people don't take you seriously, but I have responsibilities, and I need to be taken seriously, too. You need to behave when we're together."

Toothless shook his head lightly, glaring disdainfully at Hiccup as he slowly backed away. He didn't want to hear this. Frustrated and downright angry, Toothless snorted once, turned on his heel and hurriedly began to walk away.

"Toothless, wait, I didn't mean"- He was stopped short as the dragon suddenly leapt into the air, spreading his wings and rapidly gliding the few meters he was capable of crossing in a single leap. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.

Hiccup stared blankly after his friend, unsure what had just happened. After a while he slowly turned back and began walking again, feet dragging at a snail's pace, his thoughts no longer on the tasks at hand or on the people he needed to discuss important matters with. He tried to convince himself that Toothless was fine, that he just needed time to cool off, but he knew this simply wasn't true.

Hiccup wasn't completely unaware of the way people, including dragons, treated Toothless. With the Green Death dead for so long, it had been years since Hiccup's story had been shared. People with clean slates come into the world, people who carry old, dusty memories die. New adventures are made that take the precedence of old ones. Dragons raise ignorant children, migrate to new hunting grounds and leave their children to grow up in ignorance of the honor he and Toothless had earned. It was understandable. It was expected, even. Hiccup was never bothered by the fact that nobody talked about his victory as much anymore. In fact, he welcomed it. His victory had chased him through every stage of his life, and to finally be rid of its memory was not upsetting, but a relief. He was a young boy then, and the whole ordeal had been nothing but a fateful accident. But Toothless...

Toothless was prideful and stubborn by nature, but Hiccup had to wonder if he had in any way been insensitive. He thought it over, searching for clues in what he had said, in the expression on Toothless' face, in body language or mannerisms. He tried to put himself in his dragon's place, seeing a little human girl point to him and accuse him of being broken, treating him as if he was an object that needed repair. Being told that you weren't good enough, that you had little significance when in reality you had potential that others couldn't see. Gods, did that sound familiar...

Hiccup stopped walking, looking back in the direction that Toothless had taken off. Dragons were prideful creatures. How was it that he had no problem saying it to a little girl, but he could not believe it enough to realize what exactly his friend had felt when a child, in all their naive honesty, had voiced what everyone secretly thought?

Maybe Hiccup had taken his position for granted, he thought guiltily. While he had grown into an esteemed position of strength and leadership, Toothless had always been in Hiccup's shadow, always willing to be content being a companion and nothing more. What Hiccup had misunderstood for thick-skinned stubbornness was in reality frustration for the things Hiccup, and the life living with him brought, had forced Toothless to give up.

There was a time when Toothless had been able to single-handedly give Hiccup the power to thrive, to soar, to be more than what others saw him as. Maybe it was time he finally returned the favor. Hiccup stood there for a long time, thinking. No, he wouldn't still have it, he thought disdainfully. But after a few moments, Hiccup finally turned from where he stood and took a decisive step forward in the direction of the forge.

It never hurt to check.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen by the time Hiccup finally found Toothless, perching on the roof of his house with his head resting sleepily on his paws. In his hands, Hiccup carried a long bundle wrapped in a very old wool cloth. He took a step closer to the house, his neck strained to see the faint outline of his dragon against the dim moonlight.<p>

"Toothless,"he called out. The dragon raised his head, glowing eyes immediately locking on to his rider.

"Come down, please,"Hiccup continued. His voice was soft, almost apologetic. Toothless hesitated as he mentally weighed his companion's tone in sincerity, then slowly rose to his feet, climbing down the side of the house. As soon as he touched the ground, though, he refused to move any closer. There was tension between them; tension that Toothless refused to relieve.

"Come here. I have something for you,"he said, taking a step back, wordlessly giving the dragon more room to decide for himself whether he was willing to or not. He had always done that, Toothless thought as he stared at his human: let him be the one to decide. It was what had always made him keep coming back, no matter how annoying his human and his grounded life could be.

Toothless considered him, eyeing the bundle curiously but making no move to inspect it. Finally, he took a cautious step forward, his eyes trained on Hiccup, as if waiting for a sign that the man would suddenly change his mind.

"You wouldn't believe the dust that was on this,"he murmured sarcastically with a weak smile. Toothless moved forward, intrigued now.

He seated himself on the front steps, balancing the bundle carefully in his lap. Toothless leaned in closer, curiously sniffing at the wrappings. His rider began to work the bindings, untying each knot with care as the cloth slowly fell away to reveal a new tailfin, with curious metal contraptions and a familiar design that reminded Toothless suspiciously of...

The dragon slowly looked up and met his companion's gaze, finally understanding. It had been long ago - so, so long ago. Knowing how short a human's memory was, he was surprised that Hiccup still remembered it, much less kept it.

It was the same fin Hiccup had given him that would allow him to fly on his own.

The response was immediate. Without so much as a second thought, the dragon nudged the gift with his nose, pushing it back to his rider. Even pride as thick-skinned as a dragon's would never change the answer Toothless had given all those years ago.

Hiccup shook his head, pushing the tailfin back as he looked solemnly up at his friend.

"I'm not asking you to leave,"he explained quickly. Toothless' eyes softened at this, the corners of his eyes rounding and his expression melting to one of mild confusion. Hiccup smiled weakly, bringing up a hand to place gently against the side of the dragon's face.

"We've been through a lot together, haven't we, old friend?"he finally asked after a long stretch of silence. Toothless cooed softly, pressing his head lightly into the man's hand as to indicate his agreement.

"You know I want you with me every second of every day,"he continued softly, "I'm sorry if I ever made you think otherwise." Toothless tilted his head to the side, his round, expressive eyes betraying subdued sadness.

"But that's why I want you to know that you don't have to do all this with me if you don't want to. If you've earned anything for yourself, it's the right to choose for yourself." Toothless stared at Hiccup, his eyes shifting between the tailfin and the man who held it gingerly in his hands.

"Either way, I trust you. I don't...I don't want to give you this without some guarantee that you'll always come back, but..." He stopped, looking up at his friend, who waited patiently for him to continue. Slowly Hiccup lowered the hand that rested on the dragon's face, letting it fall to his lap.

"...that freedom was never mine to keep from you,"he finished quietly. He looked up, holding his breath as he waited for his friend to make a move. The dragon's response was further delayed this time as he stared wonderingly at the tailfin.

"Toothless?"Hiccup suddenly asked, "This place just isn't home for me without you. If not for the people here, promise that you'll come back for me?" He was stopped short with a short coo as the dragon nuzzled his snout against Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup's arm came around his thick neck, feeling the vibrations from Toothless' purring rumble inside of him. Relief swept through him as he wrapped his arms tighter around Toothless' neck. There was no hesitancy or unsureness in his answer - only warmth and trust, just as there always had been, just as there always would be. Broken or whole, grounded or free, home would always be where they were together.

* * *

><p>AN: That was so not worth a two month wait, haha.<p>

So...I would really like to know if the fact that I reposted all my reviews anonymously makes anybody uncomfortable. I didn't want to see all your wonderful comments deleted forever/left to rot on a computer file when I'm not even halfway done with this story. So if you've left a review for this story in the past, and it does bothers you, please please please let me know and I will take it down. I promise I will not be offended in any way, and I do mean that.

Next chapter is called "Death," and we will have officially reached the halfway point. We'll be going backwards after that :) Review if you feel sorry for me, hehe. This transfer sucked. A lot. And remember if you wanted to add this as a favorite/alert, you need to do it again.

Thanks for putting up with all this craziness! And these insanely wordy author's notes... :/ Please please say hi...After two months, I feel oddly deprived of human interaction on this site. :(


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